Republicans Running Scared: They Seem More Worried About Their Own Hides Than Our Troops'

Chasms are opening in the former Republican consensus to "stay the course" in what should be regarded as a criminal act by the U.S. Even some staunch GOP types are finally beginning to see how foolish -- and, yes, unconscionable -- the Iraq war has been.

But among Republican lawmakers, they seem to be running scared about this for the wrong reasons.

The Associated Press reported today: "Several Republican senators on Wednesday told President Bush's top national security aide privately Wednesday that they did not want Bush to wait until September to change course in Iraq.

"The meeting that lawmakers had with national security adviser Stephen Hadley came as GOP Sens. Olympia Snowe and Chuck Hagel announced they would back Democratic legislation ordering combat to end next spring.

"Republican support for the war has steadily eroded in recent weeks as the White House prepares an interim progress report that finds the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has made little progress in meeting major targets of reform."

Before you begin thinking that genuine sanity is prevailing at last, check out the next two paragraphs of this same AP report:

"Of the GOP lawmakers who say the U.S. should reduce its military role in Iraq, nearly all are up for re-election in 2008.

"I'm hopeful they (the White House) change their minds," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M."

Darn it, just when you start to think that some of these people really aren't corrupt cowards!

I do have some respect for Nebraska's Hagel. He started questioning the war policy back when it was very unfashionable for any Republican senator to do so. But the rest seem to have less courageous motives.

Back to the AP report: "Domenici and at least five other Republicans support a bill by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., that would adopt as U.S. policy the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group Report.

"The bipartisan panel, led by Republican James A. Baker III and Democrat Lee Hamilton, said the U.S. should hand off the combat mission to the Iraqis, bolster diplomatic efforts in the region and pave the way for a drawdown of troops by spring 2008.

"Domenici, who is expected to face voters next year, said he and other co-sponsors told Hadley the president shouldn't wait until September to adopt the bipartisan policy.

"The only difference of opinion at the moment is, the president wants to deal with the Baker-Hamilton recommendations in September," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., one of the first GOP co-sponsors.

"I think he should do that today because it develops a long-term strategy for what happens in the surge," added Alexander, who also is up for re-election. "It would put him and Congress on the same path, which is what we definitely need." "

There's another encouraging note here. The AP actually noticed that almost all of these GOP hacks are up for re-election. For once, a Mainstream Media reporter who didn't write like a stenographer with amnesia!