OLYMPIA – Mike McGavick, a Republican waging an uphill race for U.S. Senate, on Monday called for the replacement of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the creation of a bipartisan panel to propose new directions for the Iraq war.
But the plan drew a quick response from a key fellow Republican, Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner of Virginia, who seemed to take issue with an implication that he supported McGavick’s ideas.
McGavick said he had talked about his ideas with Warner and Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., on Monday following their recent criticism of the administration’s handling of the war.
“Senators Warner and Hagel have articulated exactly what the American people are thinking – that things are not getting better in Iraq and a course correction is needed,” McGavick said in a statement released by his campaign.
But Warner quickly distanced himself from McGavick’s proposal.
“In our conversation, I shared with Mr. McGavick my views on the challenges that remain in Iraq,” Warner said in a statement released by his Senate office. “I did not expand my views beyond the parameters of my prior public comments on the issue.
“Secretary Rumsfeld did not come up in any way in our conversation.”
McGavick didn’t retreat from his remarks. He said Monday night in an Associated Press interview that his decision to speak out on Iraq was inspired by public comments from Warner and Hagel, but that he never said they supported his proposals.
“I never implied that they agreed with me,” he said.
Asked if he were breaking with the White House, McGavick said, “I am trying to concentrate on what Congress should be doing when confidence (in the Bush war policy) is sliding. Congress has been standing by watching this.”
Warner and Hagel on Sunday called for a new Iraq strategy. Hagel said he agreed with Warner’s view that Iraq is “drifting sideways” and that the American public won’t support a policy that puts troops in the middle of a civil war. Warner says a change in course may be needed if Iraq fails to restore order in two or three months.
Latching onto that theme, McGavick on Monday launched his strongest criticism of the White House to date, saying the war is “worsening by the day” and calling on President Bush to listen to critics.
McGavick said in his statement that he spoke with both senators by phone and that all agreed that new options must be explored. The first step, he said, was formation of a bipartisan committee to “restore confidence in the American people and to put additional pressure on both the Iraqi government to stand up and the administration to look at alternative strategies.
“When someone like John Warner stands up and says we need a different plan for victory, the president needs to listen,” McGavick said. “And this work must begin immediately because we know that the situation is worsening by the day.”
He also called for Rumsfeld’s replacement.
Warner said he told McGavick, as he has told reporters previously, that he will hold a Senate hearing on Iraq in November to get an update from the Pentagon and to hear from a range of other views.
McGavick’s opponent, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., quickly dismissed the idea of a new study commission and said McGavick remains hopelessly tarred by his connection to Republicans who haven’t been able to persuade the administration to change the course in Iraq.
“With Washingtonians beginning to vote this week, it sounds like McGavick is trying to change his ‘stay the course’ position without actually changing his ‘stay the course’ position,” Cantwell said.
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