Republicans continued to accuse Democrats of wanting to “cut and run” from Iraq on Tuesday, one day after President Bush said Democrats want to “wave the white flag of surrender.”
The escalation in rhetoric signaled a growing confidence among Republicans in the renewed debate over whether and when U.S. troops should be withdrawn from Iraq.
Heartened by splits among Democrats, a largely unified GOP moved aggressively to portray the political opposition as weak on national security in advance of the November elections.
“If we break our promise and cut and run, as some would have us do, the implications could be catastrophic,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “Not only would it be a dishonor of historic proportions, the threat to America’s national security would be potentially disastrous.”
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., disagreed and planned to introduce a resolution calling for U.S. troops to be withdrawn within a year. It was a change from last week, when Kerry drafted a resolution calling for withdrawal within six months.
“You hear the drum beat on every television show from every commentator — cut and run, cut and run, cut and run, cut and run,” he told radio host Don Imus. “That’s their phrase. They found their three words. They love to do that.
“And they’re going to try to make the elections in November a choice between cut and run and stay the course. That’s not the choice. My plan is not cut and run. Their plan is lie and die.”
Kerry said “you have to force” Iraqis to take over security for their country because “it’s human nature” for them to want Americans to shoulder the burden.
National security adviser Stephen Hadley took issue with Kerry’s argument.
“There’s this notion that somehow the Iraqis have to be pressured to take responsibility for their own security,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “But I think there is no question that the Iraqis want to be able to take responsibility for their security.”
White House officials were privately elated that Democrats are so divided on a timetable for withdrawal. While Kerry wants troops out within a year, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., wanted troops out by last month. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., opposes a timetable, while Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Jack Reed of Rhode Island have called for redeployment without a specific timetable.
“We should welcome the debate,” Bush told Republicans at a fundraiser late Monday. “But I want to remind you of the consequences if those who want to withdraw from Iraq happen to prevail in the debate.
“An early withdrawal would be a defeat for the United States of America. There will be no early withdrawal so long as we run the Congress and occupy the White House.”
