AFP - The leader of opposition Democrats in the US Senate stepped up his assault on President George W. Bush, warning Iraq had slumped into civil war and assailing the US refusal to engage Iran.
The leader of opposition Democrats in the US Senate stepped up his assault on President George W. Bush, warning Iraq had slumped into civil war and assailing the US refusal to engage Iran.
Senator Harry Reid hit back at Republican attacks on US security, a hot button issue in the vitriolic campaign for November's congressional elections.
"We have to change course in Iraq, we are approaching 2,700 dead American men and women, more than 20,000 wounded, a third of them greviously wounded, missing arms, and legs, and eyes, paralysis, brain damage. The cost is three billion dollars a week, Reid said.
"If Iraq is not in a civil war now, I don't know what a civil war is, 100 killed yesterday, 100 killed the day before," Reid said at a conference of political staffers and foreign policy experts on Iran.
Key members of Bush's administration have warned that calls from some Democrats for a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, or a change of direction, would embolden "terrorists" and spell disaster for US security.
Reid also seized on a complaint by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that a recent US congressional report warning of the threat from Iran exaggerated the capabilities of its nuclear program.
He accused the administration of endangering US security by refusing to negotiate with its enemies like Iran and North Korea as they develop nuclear programs.
"The Bush administration apparently believes talking is a sign of weakness," he said.
"This aversion to diplomacy is very hard for me to understand. I believe it is a cop out."
The White House meanwhile reiterated that any talks with Iran depend on the Islamic republic suspending its uranium enrichment program.
Reid, backed tough United Nations sanctions to punish what he said was Iran's drive for a nuclear weapon -- an accusation Tehran denies.
But he argued that Washington should also talk directly to Iran to try and head off a confrontation, drawing an analogy with US arms control talks with the Soviet Union during the Cold War by Bush's Republican predecessor Ronald Reagan.
09-14-2006, 02:11 PM
