On Iraq war, Senate leader Harry Reid in cross hairs

Reid, a key player in working out any compromise on war funding, raised a furor by calling the war 'lost.'

from the April 27, 2007 edition

Page 2 of 3

Page 1 | 2 | Page 3

Reid's home state of Nevada has lost 27 with coalition forces since the war begin in March 2003, he says. But it's not just the numbers that trouble the senator; it's his conviction that history is repeating itself in Iraq, and that if Congress does not stop this war soon, many more will die to no purpose.

"I remember when President Johnson, trying to save his political legacy, initiated the first of many surges into Vietnam in 1965," he said in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on Monday.

"At this point, the United States had lost a few thousand troops in Vietnam. Following the surges, and by the end of the war, more than 50,000 more were added to that casualty list," he said.

In this speech Reid did not reprise his unscripted claim that the war is "lost." Instead, he talked about what victory in the war on terror might look like. "If we succeed, we can protect our national security, rebuild our battered and betrayed military, and fight a real war on terrorism that drives the terrorists back into the darkest corners, caves, and crevices of human existence. But to win that war, we must choose a new path in Iraq," he said.

But for his critics, the defining Reid moment is still "this war is lost." On the House side, Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee and a presidential candidate, called on Reid to resign. His remarks are sure to have "a demoralizing effect on our troops and an effect of encouragement of the adversary," he said.

So far, the Democratic caucus is standing with Reid. "The larger point he was trying to make was that this war cannot be won militarily, but must be won politically and diplomatically. We need to change course. We can't continue down the same path," says Jim Manley, a spokesman for the Democratic leadership.

"The war is the overarching issue of our time, and Senator Reid has been a bold and decisive leader," says Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts.

"Are we winning the war?" quipped Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) of Vermont, responding to whether the Democrats supported the majority leader's remarks. "He has a caucus that ranges from those who are for the war to those who oppose it. He's done a very good balancing act."

Reid did most of his work under the radar. He's best known for cutting deals and counted votes – and building the Democratic majority.

1 | Page 2 | 3 | Next Page