Senior Republican Senator attacks Bush over troop surge

Richard Lugar, a senior and influential Republican on the Senate's foreign relations committee, has criticized President Bush over the troop surge. It is becoming increasingly obvious to Americans regardless of political persuasion that the war is being poorly prosecuted.



One of America's most influential Republicans rounded on George Bush over Iraq yesterday, saying the "surge" begun in February had little chance of success.

Richard Lugar, senior Republican on the Senate's foreign relations committee, said the war put vital US interests in the Middle East at risk and could end in disaster unless a coherent withdrawal plan for US forces was agreed "very soon".

Mr Lugar had previously been a supporter of the action. In a sign of spreading rebellion another Republican senator, George Voinovich, backed him last night. "We must not abandon our mission, but we must begin a transition where the Iraqi government and its neighbors play a larger role," he said.

Another party figure, Senator John Warner, predicted more top Republicans would soon desert Mr Bush. "You'll be hearing a number of statements from colleagues after the July 4 holiday," he said.

"In my judgment the current surge strategy is not effective," Mr Lugar told the Senate. "It relies on military power to achieve goals that it cannot achieve, and it lacks domestic support. The political fragmentation in Iraq, the growing stress on our military, and the constraints of our own domestic political process, are converging to make it impossible for the US to engineer a stable, multi-sectarian government in Iraq in a reasonable timeframe."

In this context, he added, "our security interests call for a downsizing and redeployment of US forces ... A course change should happen now, while there is still some possibility of constructing a sustainable bipartisan Iraq strategy."

Harry Reid, Democrat majority leader in the Senate, praised Mr Lugar's speech as "courageous" saying it was an historic turning point .

Senator Joe Biden, a Democrat presidential candidate, said it was a "watershed". He predicted a dozen or more Republicans would also jump ship because, like Mr Lugar, they now accepted Mr Bush's policy was "an abject failure".

Mr Reid will test Republican support for Mr Bush's policy next month by forcing a series of votes on a withdrawal deadline, a funding cut-off, and restricting the length of combat tours. Until now only a handful of lesser-known Republicans in the House of Representatives have dared to publicly challenge Mr Bush's conduct of the war. But latest polls suggest that 38% of Republican voters now support a withdrawal, and pressure on the party's elected politicians is beginning to tell.

The White House last night described Mr Lugar as a "thoughtful man" but asked him and other critics to be patient as the surge unfolds.