The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to confirm Robert Gates as defense secretary, with Democrats and Republicans portraying him as the man who will help overhaul President Bush’s Iraq policies.
The 95-2 vote was a victory of sorts for Bush, who named Gates to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon on Nov. 8, a day after voters gave Democrats control of Congress for next year.
The Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday tapped Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick as its chairwoman for the next two years, when black lawmakers will wield more power in Congress than ever.
Kilpatrick, D-Mich., a former school teacher and the mother of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, was chosen unanimously. She succeeds Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C.
Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces "a lifetime of sleepless nights" for serving in an administration that has opposed recognition of same-sex couples.
Sage members of Washington’s power elite shuffled into the White House on Wednesday to advise President George W. Bush that his current approach is not working in Iraq and that it is time for a change.
The 10 members of the Iraq Study Group were up long before dawn for a 7 a.m. (1200 GMT) meeting and they spent about an hour talking to Bush about the 79 recommendations they spent nine months developing on how to change Iraq strategy.
The United States faces a "grave and deteriorating" situation after nearly four years of war in Iraq, a high-level commission warned bluntly on Wednesday, prodding President Bush to launch a diplomatic offensive to stabilize the country and allow withdrawal of most combat troops by early 2008.
Excerpts from portions of the Iraq Study Group report, released Wednesday:
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"The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating. There is no path that can guarantee success, but the prospects can be improved."
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According to all that collected brain power in the Iraq Study Group, conditions in President George W. Bush’s failed Iraq war are "grave and deteriorating" and the United States must find a way to get the hell out.
This is news? Hell, the American public has known this for months. That’s why they sent the Republican-controlled Congress packing in the November midterm elections. That’s why Bush’s public approval ratings are so far into the crapper that even a master plumber couldn’t save them.
A commission on the war in Iraq recommended new and enhanced diplomacy Wednesday so the United States can "begin to move its combat forces" out of the country responsibly.
"The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating," the commission warned after an eight-month review of a conflict that has killed more than 2,800 U.S. troops and grown increasingly unpopular at home. The report was obtained by The Associated Press.
Pulling back American troops into their bases in Iraq will reduce U.S. casualties, but it could also spark a firestorm of unrestrained sectarian violence that will sorely test the loyalties of the Iraqi army.
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which reports on Wednesday, has explored ways of moving forward U.S. policy in Iraq, where Defense Secretary designate Robert Gates said on Tuesday America was not winning the war and needed a new approach.
Robert Gates, seemingly clinching confirmation as the new secretary of defense, said Tuesday the United States is not winning in Iraq and he’s confident President Bush will listen to his ideas about forging a new war strategy.
He won speedy and unanimous approval from the Senate Armed Services Committee after five hours of testimony, a bipartisan show of support that suggested how eager many lawmakers are to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. The full Senate could seal Gates’ confirmation as early as Wednesday.