From today's edition of The Hotline:
DASCHLE: This Will Involve No Strategery
Speaking at Northwestern 11/2, ex-Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) urged the withdrawal of 80K troops from Iraq next year. Noting that he wishes he could "share ... the misleading information I personally was provided in September and October of 2002," Daschle said that fixing foreign policy will require "strategic redeployment" of forces in Iraq. An important part of that plan includes removing 80K of the 150K US troops from Iraq following the 12/05 elections there. Next, 20K troops should be "redeployed" to Afghanistan to stop drug flow; he added that those 20k "ought to have one other mission: to find Osama bin Laden." The 70K remaining troops in Iraq would work with other nations to help the U.S. and its allies to get rid of terrorists. That group of 70K would be removed by 12/07, Daschle explained. He argues that strategic redeployment "is the kind of wise and trusted stewardship of the military that America was used to until October 2002 - and which it deserves again." he argued that the Bush admin will "at some time next year acknowledge they cannot sustain the current level of troop commitment in Iraq, and that will necessitate a change in policy."
Daschle said in an interview before his speech that he was "not surprised" by the maneuvers of Senate Dems 11/1 to hold a secret session. Daschle: "I think (now) there is a recognition that a lot of the intelligence information we were given was grossly inaccurate. The question is was it inaccurate totally because of incompetence, or was it inaccurate, in party, by design" (Kuczka, Chicago Tribune, 11/3).
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