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By Mark Kilmer Posted in Elections — Comments (24) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sunday, February 12, 2005

This was an odd week. Joe Biden declared on MTP that the Iraqi insurgency has "nothing to do with terrorists." Host Tim Russert conceded, in a question to Biden, that Saddam did in fact possess WMD. He asked Biden if he would have voted for the war if he knew at the time that "there were not significant levels of weapons of mass destruction."

Biden also quipped that as the Administration talks of drawing down troops in Iraq, the only difference between their plan and Jack Murtha's is "the timing."

On TW, Russ Feingold said he was going to introduce a measure tomorrow to censure the President for "thumbing his nose about the American people" in regards to the NSA terrorist surveillance program. Bill Frist came on next and accused Russ of attacking the President instead of al Qaeda.

On FNS, Dunc Hunter and Mike Pence were all over the DP World Ports Deal, but they defended the President as the victim off being poorly served by his advisors. Dunc bragged that he had investigated the ports deal for the President. Also on FNS, Chris Dodd promised that the Dem agenda was coming out in fits and starts.

On FTN, Barack Obama said basically that the Democrats had to do a better job of dumbing-down their message so that the American people would understand it. Later, host Bob Schieffer asked Mike Huckabee if General Pete Pace had been lying last week when he told Russert that things were going "very, very well" in Iraq. (AcademicElephant treated this line last week.)

On LE, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad had just emerged from a meeting with Iraq's leaders about getting serious, resolving their issues, and forming a government. This could be the best news we've heard yet this year. Later, Jack Kemp demanded a "date certain" for withdrawal from Iraq.

Read on…

ALLEN AND BIDEN ON MTP. Tim Russert had Joe Biden and George Allen on NBC's Meet the PressAllen sees "some progress" in Iraq, but he called the bombing of the mosque a "burning of the Reichstag tactic." He sees progress being set back by the difficult process in forming a government. He wants them to "get together and form a unity government." He believes "action needs to be taken."

Russert used the "very, very well" part of how General Peter Pace described the situation in Iraq and asked Joe Biden if he had been wrong to support the war. Joe said that his mistake was not knowing that this Administration would "be this incompetent" in their handling of the situation in Iraq. He says that we need to get a government going, "but that's just the first step." If they don't get a government in the next six weeks, we'll "have to have a Plan B": how to contain the Iraqis rather than how to help the Iraqis build a government. Russert asked if we should "get out," and Biden said no. He said that the Administration wanted to "get out," as they were withdrawing troops . He expected under 100,000 troops by the end of this year and 30,0000 next. He said that the only difference between the "Murtha Plan" and the White House plan is timing.

Joe Biden said that the President should be "on a plane" begging world leaders for a consensus. He said that Reagan, Kennedy, and F.D.R. would be "on a plane." Khalilzad cannot do it alone, Joe Biden threw in for good measure.

Russert asked Biden: "Knowing what you know now, that there were not significant levels of weapons of mass destruction," if the vote on the Iraq war were held today, would you vote to go into Iraq. Biden said that he would vote now if he knew how incompetent this Administration would be.

Believe it or not, Senator Allen was still in the studio, seated next to Biden. Russert cited poll numbers indicated that X percentage of Americans surveyed believe that we are all going to die. He asked if we can continue to fight in Iraq even if the American people do not support it. Allen said that the support of the American people is "vitally important," and he explained that the American people are ill-served by the media, getting only the bad news. He agreed with Joe Biden that it is difficult but important for the Iraqis to form the government. Russert asked what we do if they can't, and Allen said that they had to. He suggested that the Administration is trying to get other regional countries to pressure the Iraqis to get it together.

Biden offered: "We can't want peace more than the Irais want it." He suggested that we could "trade a dictator for chaos." Russert asked when is decision day. Biden said that they have to have a government in place by this summer. Russert was kind enough to ask Allen if he agreed, and Allen said that the sooner the better, as the uncertainty was unhealthy, but he was not going to create a timetable.

Allen called for countries inside and outside of the region to pressure the Iraqis to work this out.

Tim Russert opened the seal of doom. Russert suggested that "if they don't get a government together, and we do get out, and we leave chaos behind," it would be a "foreign policy disaster." Biden agreed. Biden argued that we'll need a different policy, which faction to support over the other, a disaster. He said he lectured the President that if every member of al Qaeda were "blown away," it wouldn't matter: "We'd still have a war, Mr. President."

Biden argued that "there is an insurgency, Tim." He said that the insurgency has "nothing to do with terrorists. He said that we've put our military leaders "behind the 8-ball because we didn't go in with the 5,000 police trainers that I talked about on this show."

Russert switched to Iran and played a clip of Vice President Cheney saying that the international community had to let Iran know that there would be "meaningful consequences" if it kept up its nukes program. Russert repated the term "meaningful consequences" and asked Allen if the President should ask Congress before invading Iran. Allen answered that the President should and would, and I think Allen loses points for even answering that question. Then he stepped back to admonish Russert and Biden for trying to "get everyone depressed" about Iraq. He thinks the Iraqi people will prevail.

He said that the Russians were "the most important" to the Iran problem, as they are making money off this. He said that Iran cannot get nukes, as they are a theocracy which seriously wants to eliminate Israel. He stressed sanctions, a possible inside revolt ("a long shot") because of the effects of the sanctions, and he said that though the use of the military is an option, it is to be avoided.

Biden said that the President "has to" go to Congress before he invades Iran. He complimented the Administration for "finally getting it right" on Iran. He criticized the Administration for not know that the Iranians could not survive an oil embargo.

The policy, Biden said, is that the Iranians will not get a nuclear weapon. Russert suggested that they would get a nuke, and Biden said we would stop them. Allen chimed in that he agreed with Biden, that it is "absolutely essential" that we get the rest of the world with us on this, "including Middle Eastern countries." He suggested that Iran could give its nuke capacity to Hezbollah, and he called for biofuel and nanotechnology.

Russert talked of the SRLC straw poll last night, acknowledging the SRLC as only "a gathering of Republicans in Tennessee." Allen came in third in that poll, trailing Frist and Mitt. Allen suggested with a smile that "Bill Frist is popular in Tennessee." Russert playfully taunted him about Mitt's placing, and Romney started to humorously dance. Joe Biden, who faces impossible polling this early in his Dem race, tapped Allen on the shoulder, and admonished him: "Don't worry about that." He called the SLRC "a good chance for us all to get rejuvenated."

Frist showed the President's low approval numbers in a poll and asked Frist if he were comfortable running as a "Bush Republican,' having sided with the President 96% of the time. Allen called himself a "common sense Jeffersonian conservative." Russert wanted the Bush Republican label, and he is working to create it.

Biden is running for President, of course. He said he'll see where he is after Iowa and New Hampshire in 2008 and he'll determine if he's not where he wants to be if he'll seek to be reelected to his Senate seat.

FEINGOLD ON TW. Former Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos, host of ABC's This Week, interviewed Russ Feingold (for President), who thinks he's found his issue in the NSA terrorist surveillance matter. Feingold declared that the President "deliberately broke the law." Yes, he insisted, the President has "violated his oath of office." As evidence, he cited what he called a "shifting legal justification" for the wiretaps.

Russ has declared jihad. (But what else is new for the Senator, who seeks national standing.)

The President should be censured, he declared. Steph wanted to contrast Feingold's call with the case against Clinton (Bill), and Russ declared this one "an open and shut case." Feingold reminded that he was the only Dem not to vote to have the charges against Clinton (Bill) thrown out, which he and Steph agreed gives his accusations against President Bush standing and validity.

He attacked the President for "thumbing his nose at the American people and Congress," and he will introduce his censure resolution on Monday.

FRIST ON TW.. Steph next spoke to Bill Frist, the hometown winner of last evening's Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC) straw poll. The Majority Leader, who said that this was the first he had heard of Feingold's plans to scream censure, said that it was a "crazy political move." He declared: "Russ is just wrong. He's flat wrong' he's dead wrong."

He accused Feingold of attacking the President rather than al Qaeda, and Steph asked him of he thought Feingold's censure move "weakens America abroad." Frist affirmed this.

Frist declared that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS"), who approved the deal with DP World, was a "broken process."

He praised the SRLC, and noted that every time President Bush's name was mentioned, there was sustained applause. He said that in twelve days, the Senate will discuss "comprehensive immigration reform." He wants to concentrate on "interior enforcement," involving those illegals already here, and border security. He does not support "amnesty," but he does support some sort of guest worker program.

HUNTER AND PENCE ON FNS. Both Duncan Hunter and Mike Pence opposed DP World, but on FNS, they also claimed support of the President. Host Chris Wallace talked to them first.

On the DP World deal, Pence said that the President was "ill-served by an antiquated process." That would be CFIUS, which was the target of Republican blame this morning. The DP World deal, he offered, failed a "common sense test" with the American people. (It's only common sense that we not trust the A-rabs after they attacked us on 9-11 is the jist.) Pence, however, made clear that he wanted to express his "gratitude" to the "royal family of Dubai" for their support in the war on terror.

Hunter's plan is to have the Secretary of Defense (with the DHS secretary) identify what is "critical infrustructure" which cannot be associated with none of them foreigners. Thusly designated infrastructure must be owned and operated by Americans, and Hunter scoffed at the notion that no American could do it. He suggested that they sign-up, say, a retired colonel to do it. (I assume he means that the federal government will take over the ports and form an authority to operate them.)

Pence argued that there was no Republican rebellion against the President; rather, he said, Congress was beginning to assert its independence as a co-equal branch of government. (This is fine, unless it is being done merely for its own sake.) Hunter suggested strong support for the President as Commander in Chief and called President Bush "a good leader." He argued that the President had been "let down" by the CFIUS process.

Pence disagreed with the contention, suggested by Wallace, that the President has been "high-handed" with Congress. He said again that Congress and the President were "co-equal branches of government."

The Congressmen were confident that everyone agreed that DP World was the enemy and that they were right to block the deal. Representative Hunter's goal now seemed to be to absolve the President. "The President is busy," he explained. He had no time to examine every detail of the deal, and Congress had provided the President with a "valuable service" by examining it for him. (Congress did not examine the WP World Deal. They offered innuendo.) The President is out of touch with his surroundings, according to this theory.

CHRIS DODD ON FNS Wallace next spoke with Chris Dodd. He declared that the UAE had a "spotty record" in regards to terrorism. He wants the National Intelligence Director (now John Negroponte) to sit in on the CFIUS process. Dodd, absolving the President of wrongdoing in the DP World scandal, said that the President's people should have told him that CFIUS was trying to give our ports to the A-rabs. The President had been let down. (Dodd did not, suprisingly, demand a special prosecutor. Yet.)

Wallace reminded Dodd that polls show that the Democrats should kick kiester in this fall's midterms but that the Democrats seemed not ready to be ready to do so. Dodd argued that the Democrats were unified, mentioning health care, better future, etc. There is unity, he said, on lobbying reform and ethics reform.

Asked about the lack of a Democrat plan for anything, Dodd assured Wallace that they were working on it, and it was coming out piecemeal, "issue-by-issue." It is difficult to do one comprehensive plan, he said, because they're not in power and are "battling upstream."

Wallace obeserved that the Democrats have been "all over the place" on Iraq, and Dodd muttered.

(No, the Dems are not ready for the midterms.)

OBAMA AND BOB. Barack Obama and was Bob Schieffer's first guest on CBS's Face the Nation. Schieffer declared Obama to be "the absolute star of last night's Gridiron show" last night, especially when he made fun of the Vice President's drunkeness.

Obama is concerned about Shi'as and Sunnis fighting each other, "coming close to a civil war." He said that it was up to the civilian leadership in Iraq to step forward and work this out. He said that we should think about getting out if they cannot put a government together in the next several months.

Schieffer asked what will happen when the civil war does come. Obama said that then we would be acting as a "replacement for Saddam's Republican Guard," and he would then ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider a withdrawal. He opposes the U.S. staying if there is a civil war, and Schieffer differentiated this position from the Murtha position.

Schieffer declared that the White House has had "a very tough time lately," and he accused the Democrats of not having their act together. He doesn't know what the Democrats' message is. Obama protested that they cannot have a message when there is no "central figure" to deliver it, but the Dems' are for what the American people support. Health care, education, security -- ports, chemical plants, rails, the 9-11 Commission's complaints.

Obama said that the Dems have trouble keeping their "talking points simple" enough for the American people to understand.

Obama said that there is a "moral component" to the abortion issue, and we have to have a serious consideration on how to reduce the number of times women "have to make that decision." He said that it is a mistake for Dems not to campaign in churches. He is "interested in the Sermon on the Mount."

Schieffer asked him about Hillary. Obama jokes that "half his colleagues" are running, and he was "not going to take that bait." His "focus is on '06," because "we need some balance in our government" to investigate the White House because their power is "unfettered."

On ethics reform, he asserted that the House was the more corrupt body and he was disappointed that their leadership was "backsliding" on reform.

SCHIEFFER AND MIKE HUCKABEE. Schieffer's next guest was the governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, chairmen of the National Governors Association. He was at the SRLC.

Huckabee said that he wanted to "hold off" announcing a run for President, and no one gathered in Memphis was "thinking at all about a race." Schieffer asked him how much weight he had lost, then he lost the ability to hear the governor. Huckabee answered about 108 pounds. Schieffer announced that he couldn't hear Huckabee and that Huckabee had lost 120 pounds.

Sound back. Schieffer asked Huckabee about Iraq. The governor said that "establishing a beachhead of Democracy" is a messy task. Schieffer again asserted that General Pace had said on MTP last week that things were going "very, very well" in Iraq. He suggested that Pace was lying, and he asked Huckabee if he thought so. Huckabee said that he talked to a soldier in Iraq who wanted to stay and get the job done.

Schieffer said that even Huckabee had to admit that the President was in bad shape and at an "all time low." Schieffer asked Huckabee if Bush were a "liability" to the Republican Party. Huckabee expalainted that it is difficult to be the sole executive, making difficult decisions which may be unpopular in the short term but were for the longterm good.

He wants the President to communicate in clear language how important the mission in Iraq is and how much failure would cost.

WOLF AND KHALILZAD. On CNN's Late Edition, host Wolf Blitzer's first guest was U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad. The ambassador had just come out of "emergency meetings" of Iraqi leaders. Parliament will open on the 16th of March, the leaders will meet non-stop until they have a government -- who will be Prime Minister? -- and "there is no red line" as far as participation.

Prime Minister al Jaafari did not participate in the meetings, Khalilzad explained, because he's not a faction leader. He seemed to indicate that al Jaafari will not be the next Prime Minister even though he was the candidate chosen by the Shi'ite faction.

Wolf quoted Adnan Pachachi insisting that the prime minister be someone who is widely accepted, and Khalilzad agreed. The issue, he said, will come up in the coming days. He expressed that there was "a lot of flexibility" at the meeting.

Wolf asked him how long it was going to take to form a government, and Khalilzad explained that a "National Unity Government" is a big thing, and it will take time. "I do not want to give you a date, or how many days it will take."

Wolf quoted from the New York Times, which had accused Khalilzad of acting for political reasons rather than on democratic ideals. Khalilzad explained that he wants all communities to succeed in a democracy, working together "to achieve a government of national unity."

Khalilzad said that he has not yet met with Iranian leaders. They're still discussing modalities.

Blitzer asked him who killed Tom Fox. Khalilzad: "The terrorists did. ... Tom was a good man."

KEMP AND EDWARDS & WOLF. Jack Kemp and John Edwards were Blitzer's next guests, and Wolf asked Jack if there would be a civil war or a democracy. Kemp argued for a date certain for withdrawal.

John Edward declared that our troops were foiling things up over there and we should have a "serious and substantial reduction" before we cause a "full blown civil war."

Kemp called the DP World rejection, "the betrayal of a friend... a sad day for the United States."

Edwards said he respects Jack Kemp "because we've done all this work on Russia," but that the "threshold question" is "who is going to provide the security and operations of our ports." He wants Americans do it, dammitall.

Then they talked about Russia. They have done work on Russia for the Council on Foreign Relations. Edwards doesn't think Vlad Putin is a small-d democrat and Kemp wants to get Russia into the W.T.O.

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Have at it.