From Deseret News archives:
Bennett, Hatch still back Iraq strategy
In the past few weeks, Republican Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana, George Voinovich of Ohio and, most recently on July 5, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, have said they no longer support the current strategy in Iraq.
But Utah Republicans Sen. Bob Bennett and Sen. Orrin Hatch are still on board with the president — at least for now.
Bennett supports a pending Senate bill that would implement the Iraq Study Group's recommendations on how to handle the war.
"I've sent the president a signal that my patience is not inexhaustible," Bennett said Friday on KUED's "Utah Now."
Bennett said he is waiting for Gen. David Petraeus' anticipated report in September.
"The Senate overwhelmingly supported the nomination of Gen. Petraeus and sent him to Iraq with a specific timeline to implement the surge," Bennett said. "September is not that far away. I'm prepared to wait until then for the general's full report before we make any specific recommendations to the president."
Hatch said what the military is doing now will determine what the September report contains.
"We're seeing progress, and we just now have the full surge in place," Hatch said. "Now isn't the time to lose our will in our fight against the terrorists in Iraq. On Iraq as with other issues, I cast my votes based on my analysis of what's best for Utah and for the country, not on other senators' opinions."
Hatch was in Iraq in May and said he saw "substantial" improvements from his last visit a year earlier.
On the House side, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said Congress is just repeating history instead of learning from it.
"The decision to use force was approved overwhelmingly by Congress, before I got here, so now our job is to support the troops and do what we can to achieve victory," Bishop said. "Our policy should be based on actual military needs, not on efforts to gain some sort of political cover. The tactics we use in this war should be decided by commanders and soldiers in the battlefield, not by politicians in Washington."
Rep. Chris Cannon , R-Utah, said the study group recommended a surge in troops, and withdrawal from Iraq would not make anything safer.
"Strategic decisions in the war on terror should be based on defeating the global jihadist movement, whose destructive force we have seen in London, Bali, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Israel, Madrid, New York, Washington and among the innocents of Baghdad," Cannon said. "If taking the fight to the enemy means altering our force structure, then I will support it. ...But I will not support withdrawal from Iraq to assuage the sensitivities of politicians."
Cannon said he realizes people want to see the war end, but he is frustrated "by the seeming inability of the Iraqi political leadership to put aside their differences for the national good."
E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com
