Delegation:Arkansans skeptical on Iraq
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007
WASHINGTON — Arkansans doubt that a buildup of American forces in Iraq will dramatically improve the course of events there, members of the state’s congressional delegation say.
Even the group’s lone Republican, Rep. John Boozman, says his office gets a small but steady number of calls daily opposing President Bush’s plan to add 21, 500 troops, mostly in Baghdad.
In interviews this week, Boozman and other members said their constituents are growing increasingly frustrated by a conflict in which the violence seems without end and military success elusive.
“They really don’t know what the answer is,” Boozman said. “At this point, they don’t feel like we are winning.”
Rep. Mike Ross said: “They want to see a new direction in Iraq. They don’t perceive [a troop buildup ] as a new direction.”
Ross related how he spent part of Wednesday afternoon exchanging e-mail with a soldier from Arkansas in Iraq.
The soldier’s mood ?
“Frustrated.”
His constituents’ mood ?
“Tired and weary.”
Some Arkansans want the United States to get out now. “I hear some of that,” said Sen. Mark Pryor, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Pryor said he asks people if they are aware of the possible consequences of an American withdrawal and the power vacuum it would create. “People want to be to be reassured that Iraq is worth the sacrifice,” he said. “They don’t feel that right now.”
Added Sen. Blanche Lincoln, “Nobody is wishing ill on the president’s plan, but they are dubious about whether it is going to work.”
Rep. Vic Snyder responded to interview requests with a statement: “Most of what my office has heard from Arkansans has expressed doubts and concerns about the President’s proposal.”
Rep. Marion Berry said in a statement that his opinion of the president’s plan hasn’t changed since it was announced last week: “Recent short-term troop escalation proposals in Iraq have not stopped the violence from getting worse, and President Bush has said nothing to convince me his latest [tactic ] will result in success.”
Boozman thought it might be a last chance. “You lose credibility if this doesn’t work,” he said.
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