Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) met with the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce for breakfast last Wednesday, August 29th. Norm used this opportunity to pass of a well-used lie and a tired evasion to a friendly audience that wouldn't call him on them. This lie and evasion were more or less the same ones he plied us all with six months ago on a Minnesota Public Radio interview and he reiterated at a July, 17, 2007 press conference: He still foresees a troop drawdown (the lie), but he's not for one anytime soon (the evasion).
-- Cross-posted from mnblue.com, home of the Norm Coleman Weasel Meter --
Coleman said America's military policy in Iraq will likely change next year.
"I strongly believe we're going to have a stepping down of troops and a change of mission next year," he said.
...
Coleman, who has criticized elements of Bush's surge strategy but never voted against it or for a timeline for withdrawing troops, said he is concerned about a lack of political progress in Iraq.
"My sense is that the surge has made significant military progress, but on the political side, the Iraqis have failed to achieve political progress," he said.
Coleman would not endorse recent calls from fellow Republican U.S. Sen. John Warner of Virginia, the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, for a withdrawal timeline.
"There's no question that a strong message has to be sent to the Iraqi government," Coleman said. "(Warner) is talking about sending a message, but I'm not prepared to say that I support John's approach."
(St. Cloud Times)
So Norm doesn't just believe, but he now "strongly believes" that there will be a troop reduction and a mission change. Its hard to believe what he says. He said he was against the President's surge in December of 2006 and in early January of this year. Then by the end of January he was against the surge in Baghdad, but for it in Al Anbar province. In February, he switched to opposing the opposition to the surge. Confused yet? No worries ... by the time it got to voting, he continued to vote in lockstep with the other Republicans.
Norm has previously talked about a drawdown of troops and then almost in his next breathe talked about the US being in Iraq a long time. This was all at the same press conference on July 17, 2007.
"Time will prove me right. I'm up for election in '08. If I'm wrong, folks, they'll have a chance to articulate that but I'm fairly confident, as I kind of look at the lay of the land, that we will have a change of mission, we will have significant drawdown but we're doing it without telling the enemy this is when we are getting out of here, without cutting off any funds, any support for the troops," Coleman said.
...
"We are going to be in Iraq a long time. I am not supporting dates, specific dates, timetables for withdrawal," he said. "When my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about redeployment, they are talking about getting out of Iraq. I'm not. And simply because that's the reality."
(Pioneer Press)
As for mission change, there was the original mission then there was stay the course but succeed and when that continued to fail there was The Surge. If the pattern continues, they'll ask for another Friedman Unit and change the mission to continue The Surge but succeed until they switch the mission to stall for time until January 2009 when the whole disaster can be passed off to a Democratic Administration and Norm is back in the private sector. As usual, Norm will be in lockstep with that Republican effort throughout.
If you compare his statements from Wednesday to his statement six months ago, it seems that Norm has set himself up for talking about consequences for missed benchmarks. Judging by his history, I'm sure he'll evade following through on doing anything more than talking.
Norm appeared on MPR's Midday with Gary Eichten on Monday, February 26, 2007. The show was entitled "Sen. Norm Coleman on Iraq." ... Here's his quote:
- "My colleagues have considered redeploying out of Iraq ... but there are consequences to doing this. There may come a time when we consider redeploying outside of Baghdad if the Iraqis can't stop the civil war. Then they're going to go at it and we're going to do some other things. Continue to fight the insurgency, continue to fight the foreign fighters, continue to make sure that Iran is not meddling more than it is ... [mumbles incoherently] ... Bottom line is we need specific benchmarks. [If they aren't met] then talk about consequences if benchmarks are not met."
First of all the Iraqis haven't met any benchmarks. Ever. Not. One. They've even missed benchmarks for Bush's surge. Yet Norm clings to the delusion that they'll begin meeting them. What credibility does the Iraqi military have? How much credibility does President Bush have setting new benchmarks? Finally, how much credibility does Norm Coleman have claiming we just need to set new benchmarks.
Secondly, Norm is not for establishing any consequences for missing benchmarks. He wants to begin the discussion once our next set are missed:
- "If in six months the Iraqis are not meeting benchmarks, we better start talking about redeploying, looking at a policy where our troops in Baghdad are not in the center of this anymore."
What will Norm say in six months when the Iraqis have missed every benchmark?
[emphasis added]
It's six months since he provided that quote. What will Norm say now that the Iraqi government has met only 3 of the 18 benchmarks according to a leaked GAO report. Dave Mindeman must be prescient ... here's what he expects Norm's press release to look like:
Norm Coleman is headed to Iraq. Just thought I would save everyone some time and send his assessment out now:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From Norm Coleman:
I have just returned from another visit to Iraq and I am pleased to report that troop morale is high and the facts on the ground are improving. I was pleased to see that the President's surge is working well militarily; and that my earlier assessment about Al-Anbar was correct. Our troops are performing magnificently.
I am a little less optimistic about the political progress of the Al-Maliki government. They are working hard on the benchmarks that the President has outlined but progress is slow. I encouraged them to continue the struggle and embrace national reconciliation.
(I had to leave notes because the legislature was on vacation).
As I return to Minnesota, I would encourage my fellow citizens to be patient. The birth of a new Democracy can be painful, but in the end, we can all rejoice and embrace a new member in the community of freedom.
I want to thank all those brave Minnesotans serving in harms way and wish them a safe journey home.
I look forward to General Petraeus' report and encourage all of my colleagues to see firsthand what I have seen. It has been an enlightening experience and gives me hope for the future.
God bless you all.
Norm Coleman
(mnpACT!)