CNN The Situation Room - Transcript
CNN The Situation Room - Transcript
Monday, December 12, 2005
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
BLITZER: All right, Bill, thank you very much. Bill Schneider, our senior political analyst. Democrats have been quick to respond to the president's latest Iraq speech. Today no exception. They've been responding throughout these past several days.
Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island is on the Armed Services Committee. He's now joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Senator Reed, thanks very much for joining us. Let me play a little clip from what the president said, then we'll get your reaction. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Enemy's got one weapon. You see, they can't defeat us militarily. What they can do is they can, and will, kill innocent people in the hopes of trying to get the United States of America to leave the battlefield early. The only way we can lose is if we lose our nerve. And they know that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: It sounds like he's referring to some, shall we say, the more liberal members of your party, the Democratic Party, the Howard Deans, the chairman, the Nancy Pelosis. What do you make of what the president said?
SEN. JACK REED (R), RHODE ISLAND: Well, I think the president understands that this is not just a military struggle. There's a political struggle going on in Iraq, and we have to make political and economic progress. But there's also an issue of public support here in the United States. And that support, frankly, is very concerned about the president's policies.
There is a real, I think, reflected in the polls but reflected in everyone I meet around the country, a concern that he doesn't have a plan, that he hasn't articulated how long we'll be there, the course for our engagement there, and frankly what will be the result. These speeches are designed to do that, but so far, I don't think he's laid out in some detail enough to assuage the American public as to where he's going, where we should go.
BLITZER: But you agree with him. I assume you agree with him that the United States simply can't pull out unilaterally and assume the situation will take care of itself.
REED: Well, we can't pull out unilaterally. What we can't also do is give a blank check to the Iraqi people and their political leaders. We have to make it clear they have to assume the lead faster than they're doing right now.
And we also have to help them in terms of creating the kind of governmental capabilities that they lack. And we've got a host of things to do so that we can leave, and I think the American public don't want to leave prematurely, but don't want to stay forever. And frankly, we can't sustain that given our forces.
We have to have, I believe, a phased redeployment of our troops based upon the conditions on the ground. It's the responsibility of the president to sketch out those conditions and let the people know generally how long we'll stay and how much it will cost us both in terms of resources and, more importantly, in terms of our troops.
BLITZER: Senator Reed, listen to what Democratic Congressman John Murtha said yesterday as far as his thoughts are on this Iraq situation are concerned. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: We are the enemy. That's the thing. And I go out and visit these young folks almost every week. And I want to save every one of them we can. I don't want them to be there one day more than necessary. And to me, right now is the time to re-deploy.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Like you, he's very knowledgeable on the military, very close to the military, spends a lot of time with soldiers and Marines. Do you agree with him?
REED: Well, I don't think a fixed deadline is going to serve our purposes, but I think he is expressing the deep concern of the American people. And also, he's expressing the reality that our military forces cannot sustain indefinitely a commitment of 160,000 troops in Iraq with all the costs both in terms of not just budgets, but in terms of wear and tear on troops and their families.
I think he's expressing that quite graphically. I think we have to have a change in course, and hopefully the president is making that change, so we don't give the Iraqis an open-ended commitment. We require them to step up, and we help them to step up. But I think Congressman Murtha is expressing the deep concerns of many, many Americans around the country.
BLITZER: One final question, Senator Reed. How do you feel about Senator Joe Lieberman and his ardent support for the administration's Iraq stance?
REED: Well, Joe has been consistent in his support of the president from the very beginning. So I'm not surprised he would stick to us. But he joined us, and I think significantly so, when this Senate passed with 79 votes a strong resolution, a strong amendment, on the authorization bill that asked the president basically to make 2006 a year of transition, to begin to shift more dramatically the burden to the Iraqis, and to do those things we have to do so that we can re-deploy our forces.
So I don't know how far away he is from us. I think his comments are more in line with his thinking from the very beginning. And I'll grant him that, but I think together, we can do more to reshape the president's policy, and I hope we're doing that.
BLITZER: Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island. Thanks, Senator, very much for joining us.
REED: Thanks, Wolf.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/12/sitroom.01.html