The Daily Background
| Military leaders disagree with Republicans on merits of Iraq debate
by Arlen Parsa
While Republicans say that a debate on Iraq and the President’s escalation policy would be damaging to troop morale, top military commanders including the Secretary of Defense contradicted them yesterday in Senate hearings. Below are several illustrative, though conflicting quotes.
General Pace on morale:
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the dialogue here in Washington strengthens our democracy. Period,” Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the House Armed Services Committee. He added that potential enemies may take some comfort from the rancor but said they “don’t have a clue how democracy works.”
Secretary of Defense Gates on morale:
I think they’re [the troops are] sophisticated enough to understand that that’s what the debate’s really about.
More General Pace on morale:
As long as this Congress continues to do what it has done, which is to provide the resources for the mission, the dialogue will be the dialogue, and the troops will feel supported.
Senator Lieberman on morale:
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, urged his colleagues to vote “no†today, asserting that a debate on the Warner-Levin resolution would hurt the morale of American troops and embolden their enemies.
“What will it say to our soldiers?†he asked.
Senator Cornyn (R-TX) on morale:
“To offer nonbinding resolutions which encourage our enemies and undermine our allies and deflate the morale of our troops is, to me, the worst of all possible worlds,†said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas.
Vice President Cheney on morale:
Asked in a CNN interview how the administration would react if the Senate passed a resolution against the president’s Iraq plan, Vice President Dick Cheney said: “It won’t stop us, and it would be, I think, detrimental from the standpoint of the troops.”
