[Marxism] Republican congressman says US should consider withdrawing troops from Iraq

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From GI Special 3A10  ThomasFBarton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Republican Leader, Friend Of Bush, Proposes Troop Withdrawal From Iraq;


Jan. 09, 2005 Associated Press, GREENSBORO, N.C.



U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, a Greensboro Republican and close ally of
President Bush, says the United States should consider pulling out of
war-ravaged Iraq.



Coble is one of the first members of Congress to suggest a withdrawal
publicly.



The 10-term congressman said in an interview with the News & Record of
Greensboro that he's "fed up with picking up the newspaper and reading
that we've lost another five or 10 of our young men and women in Iraq."



Support among Coble's 6th District constituents has also waned, his
office said.



The dean of the state's congressional delegation said he arrived at his
position only after many months of searching in vain for evidence that
the Bush administration had a post-invasion strategy to deal with the
transition to Iraqi self-government.



Coble, who has represented the 6th District since 1984, says he voted to
give Bush sweeping war-making powers assuming the administration had a
post-invasion strategy.



"If there was, I wish someone would tell me what it is or show it to
me," he said. "I'd like to see it."



But a troop withdrawal should be an option if the Iraqi government is
unable or unwilling to "shoulder more of the heavy lifting" for its own
security, Coble said.



There has been little or no indication that the Iraqi government can do
that, he said.



"What we have are Iraqis killing Iraqis and American troops," Coble
said. "All I'm saying is that a troop withdrawal ought to be an option.
It ought to be placed on the table for consideration.



"I'm going to keep talking about this," he said.



Coble, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and
Homeland Security, said he may broach the idea to the panel.



Although many Democrats in Congress have sharply criticized the Bush
administration's decision to invade Iraq, as well as its conduct of the
war, most say the United States must stay until the Iraqi government is
strong enough to defend itself.






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