War Room

Republican leader: Iraq is a "small price" to pay

As House Minority Leader John Boehner and his Republican colleagues continue to attack Democrats for MoveOn's "General Petraeus or General Betray Us" ad, let's take a moment to remember that Boehner himself once blamed America's problems in Iraq on the U.S. generals serving there.

Arguing that then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shouldn't be hung out to dry for Iraq, Boehner told Wolf Blitzer on Nov. 1, 2006: "The fact is the generals on the ground are in charge, and [Rumsfeld] works closely with them and the president."

Of course, Rumsfeld was hung out to dry just a few days later. Boehner? He's still around. In an interview with Blitzer from Baghdad Wednesday, Boehner said that "the investment that we're making today [in Iraq] will be a small price if we're able to stop al-Qaida here, if we're able to stabilize the Middle East. It's not only going to be a small price for the near future, but think about the future for our kids and their kids."

We're not sure which investment Boehner considers such a "small price" -- the trillion dollars the United States will eventually spend in Iraq, or the 3,776 American soldiers who have already lost their lives there. Nor are we sure how much "smaller" that price might have been if we'd actually put our resources into fighting al-Qaida where it was after 9/11 rather than creating a new and deadly battleground where it wasn't.

Dobson says he'll vote for McCain-Palin
The prominent evangelical leader has been reticent about supporting John McCain, so his move may signal how happy social conservatives are with the choice.
Gov. Palin and Iraq
Asked about the surge in 2007, she said she hadn't "really focused much on the war in Iraq."
McCain, Palin go PUMA hunting
At the first event for the McCain-Palin ticket, at least one reason why John McCain chose the running mate he did became clear.
Another state not delivered
Palin's selection confirms that the idea of picking a running mate to help deliver that politician's home state is officially dead.

Current Salon Politics Stories

Salon Politics Blogs

Recent Posts

Gov. Palin and Iraq
Asked about the surge in 2007, she said she hadn't "really focused much on the war in Iraq."
McCain, Palin go PUMA hunting
At the first event for the McCain-Palin ticket, at least one reason why John McCain chose the running mate he did became clear.
Another state not delivered
Palin's selection confirms that the idea of picking a running mate to help deliver that politician's home state is officially dead.
Previous Posts…

War Room RSS Feed

Posts by date

August 2008
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31

About War Room

War Room is written and edited by Alex Koppelman, with contributions from Salon reporters around the country.

Daily Newsletter

Get Salon in your mailbox!