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Sens. McCain, Voinovich Brawl Over Iraq
In what one witness called "the most serious fight that I have ever seen in my time in the Senate,” John McCain got into a behind-closed-doors clash with fellow Republican Sen. George Voinovich over the Iraq war. What touched off the verbal brawl was a comment by presidential hopeful McCain – who has just returned from a trip to Iraq – that the most dangerous threat facing U.S. troops there was al-Qaida. Voinovich shot back that al-Qaida "wouldn’t be in Iraq” if U.S. forces weren’t there, witnesses to the exchange told The Politico. Voinovich, a second-term senator from Ohio, recently urged President Bush to take immediate steps to change his Iraq war policy. But McCain remains firmly supportive of maintaining high troop levels in Iraq. He declared on the Senate floor Tuesday that setting a firm date for troop withdrawal would "embolden radical Islamists,” and said he saw "progress” in Iraq due to the "surge” of American troops there.
Story Continues Below "This fight is about Iraq, but it is not about Iraq alone,” McCain said. "It’s greater than that and, more importantly, about whether America still has the political courage to fight for victory or whether we will settle for defeat and all the terrible things that accompany it.” McCain’s support for the war effort comes as Democrats in Congress are pressing for new votes on Iraq, The Politico observes. At least two Republican senators – Chuck Hagel from Nebraska and Gordon Smith from Oregon – are expected to support a Democratic initiative mandating a "limited presence” for American troops in Iraq by the end of next April.
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