Republicans’ division over Iraq grows
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Published: January 7 2007 18:43 | Last updated: January 7 2007 18:43
at The Financial Times"Leading Republicans on Sunday showed further signs of fracturing over President George W. Bush’s reported plans to send more troops to Iraq, while Democrats now in control of Congress said they would not give him a “blank cheque” for reinforcements but stopped short of saying they would block funding.
“If the president recommends what we seem to believe he’s going to recommend, I intend to support him,” declared Mitch McConnell, the Republican’s new minority leader in the Senate. But he also told Fox News Sunday that he believed other Republicans would not.
Republicans are divided over the expectation that Mr Bush intends to announce a big troop increase on Wednesday as part of the strategy and personnel overhaul the White House is calling a “new way forward”.
Senator Chuck Hagel last week called the idea “Alice in Wonderland”, while on his return from Iraq last month Senator Norm Coleman said he would “stand against” the reported plan.
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7aab5a38-9e7b-11db-ac03-0000779e2340.html