Tom Lantos, D-CA: Bush approach "not a strategy, Americans' patience with this war has run out"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Bush's war strategy had failed so far, and a new direction is needed.

"We and the American people already know that the situation in Iraq is grim, and the growing majority of this Congress and of the American people want our troops out," Lantos said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. "Strategically, the escalation has failed."

Lantos argued that the military buildup the president ordered in January was intended to buy time for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other political leaders to find a way to resolve their differences and end civil strife. But political reconciliation has only inched forward since January, Lantos said.

"We can expect the administration to continue asking for more money, more patience and more sacrifices from our troops — all in the belief that our continued intervention in Iraq will eventually bear fruit," Lantos said. "But this approach is not a strategy, and Americans' patience with this war has run out."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20789119/