This is NOT good news for President George Bush’s ability to garner the kind of political support he will need to get through the next two years:
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said today after a two-day trip to Iraq that he would not support an increase in the number of soldiers in Baghdad.
He said he would “stand against” any effort to send a surge of more troops to Baghdad unless there’s a clear vision that it will help end sectarian violence in the city.
“I think it would create more targets. I think we would put more life at risk,” he said in a phone call with reporters from Bahrain. Coleman visited Baghdad, Fallujah, Taqaddum and Talil.
Coleman did support expanding the military, saying troops are currently stretched too thin and that a larger force is needed to fight the war on terrorism.
Coleman can’t be accused of having a liberal agenda or being a perpetual war critic. He came back from Iraq so part of his perspective is based on that. He may also be hearing from his constituents at home about their feelings about the war.
Regardless, it’s one more sign of the growing divide within the GOP itself over Bush’s war policy. The next two years — and events beyond anyone’s control — could accentuate this divide.
H/t Hinessight.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.