Rep. Ike Skelton indicated he would not relent in opposing President Bush's Iraq policies and signaled in questioning Wednesday he may even turn up the heat.
The Associated Press blasts:
Michigan Sen. Carl Levin and Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, in the first hearings on Iraq since Democrats regained power in last week's elections, said the Bush administration had bungled the war and the U.S. soon should begin to pull out troops.
This from Reuters:
Rep Ike Skelton, the Missouri Democrat likely to lead the House Armed Services Committee, pressed Gen. Abizaid and David Satterfield, senior adviser to the secretary of state and coordinator for Iraq, on security problems in Iraq.
Skelton asked Satterfield whether the United States was winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.
"No, we are not," Satterfield responded.
Skelton asked Abizaid whether he could go to downtown Baghdad and have a cup of tea without an armed escort.
The general responded: "No, I wouldn't advise it and I think that's the litmus test, isn't it, congressman?"
Other statements from Skelton:
"It's hard to find reason for optimism in Iraq today," said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.
"The administration must look carefully at our objectives in Iraq: whether they are achievable, by what means and whether they are worth the cost in money, lives and military readiness," he said.
Still, above all, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East warned Congress Wednesday against setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, rejecting the arguments of resurgent Democrats who are pressing President Bush to start pulling out.
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