Washington – With lawmakers facing tough questions at home about the war in Iraq, Sen. John Warner, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, says he intends to summon Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld quickly for a hearing when Congress returns next week.
Warner, a Virginia Republican who is one of the most important congressional voices on military policy, said mounting numbers of dead and wounded Americans, the contentious process of drafting an Iraqi constitution and the economic cost of the war were adding up to new anxiety in Congress.
“The level of concern is, I think, gradually rising,” Warner said in an interview Friday. “Our nation has given so much to the Iraqi people, and what are they giving us in return?”
Unlike some of his colleagues in both parties, Warner said he did not see parallels between the current situation and the Vietnam era. While he said he believed that most Republican lawmakers remained strongly behind administration policy, he indicated that continuing on the same course could steadily erode congressional backing for the war.
“I don’t see that the Congress is going to suddenly pull back like in the days of Vietnam,” Warner said. “It is the desire of the Congress to continue to work with and support the administration. But there is always a tipping point.”
His remarks came as leaders of both parties acknowledged that lawmakers had heard, during the August recess, from voters unhappy with events in Iraq. The public sentiment has been reflected in polls indicating a drop in support for President Bush and his Iraq policies. The political atmosphere has also been influenced by the anti-war vigil outside Bush’s ranch in Texas.
“I think the public is losing patience with the effort because they don’t see it succeeding,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House. “In fact, from their perspective, they see the attacks increasing. We haven’t done what we need to do for the infrastructure in Iraq. We haven’t got the economy going.”
Appearing on ABC television Sunday, Sen. John Thune, a freshman Republican from South Dakota, acknowledged “a certain amount of fatigue” among the public with events in Iraq. “And particularly, when we hear the news of casualties, people in this country don’t want to hear that,” Thune said on the program “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.”
But he added, “At the same time, I think we have to keep the broader purpose in mind, and that is that we are making this world safer.”