Coming from a State that has a long history of being progressive and liberal it is interesting to note that Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, a Republican, just came out against the war in Iraq in a speech on the Senate Floor. Can you say “flip-flop” maybe but at least he is moving in the right direction and he says at least a dozen other Republican Senators feel the same way. With Bush’s approval rating on Iraq down to 27% a new low by 4% it makes sense that Smith and others are coming to their senses whether sincere or just a survival reaction to better their chances of reelection in 2008. To hear the full speech you can visit Air America’s station in Portland KPOJ 620 AM. This may just be one more reason I am prouder to call myself an American and especially an Oregonian. I will be interested to be home for a few days in February and see how the climate has changed in the States!
P.S. I am not sure that immediate withdrawal and leaving Iraq completely on its own is the best answer but I know that the mess the US Government has created in the Middle East must take a different direction. I was appalled the other day when I heard that over 13,000 civilians have died in the area since we invaded a few years back. Plus the over 2,000 US soldiers.
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Senator Gordon Smith (R)has often been independent of the "Republican line" in his stands, although his friend and frequent partner in legislation Senator Ron Wyden (R) OR almost always represents my personal views, but this is particularly significant because of his use of the word "criminality" in reference to W's Iraq policy.
I think that the use of a figure of 13,000 civilian fatalities is conservative even if you are aupportive of Bush. Some international oreganisations have estimated as many as 150,000 civilian casualties. The website: Iraqbodycount.org, which itemizes ever death has a count thru 12/9/2006 of between 50096 and 55576.
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