`Escalating our military involvement in Iraq sends precisely the wrong message, and we oppose it.’
–Joint statement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland
`We have to succeed. We must succeed. The consequences of failure are catastrophic in the region.’
–Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
`It is time for us to acknowledge that the president’s plan has been flawed from the outset.’
–Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)
`This is a dangerously wrongheaded strategy that will drive America deeper into an unwinnable swamp at a great cost.’
–Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.)
`I’m convinced the military can handle it and we’ll be successful.’
–Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
`As our commanders have said repeatedly, Iraq requires a political solution, not a purely military one, and we did not hear such a proposed solution tonight.’
–Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)
`I do not believe that sending more troops to Iraq is the answer. Iraq requires a political rather than a military solution.’
–Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.)
`I regard this as a last gasp for the president to try to get a successful resolution of the Iraq quagmire.’
–Stephen Wayne, professor of government, Georgetown University
`Freedom must prevail in Iraq. The president has charted a course for victory, and I look forward to supporting this new strategy.’
–Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.)
`If Iraq is going to fulfill its role as a sovereign and democratic state, it must start acting like one. It is for this reason that I oppose the proposal for a troop surge.’
–Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.)
`While Americans are not sure about how to get out, and only a small proportion back immediate withdrawal, they certainly aren’t inclined to support a new increase, an escalation.’
–John Isaacs, president of the Council for a Livable World, an arms-control advocacy group
`The president knows he’s walking into a buzz saw. If he had answers, he would have given them a long time ago.’ –Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.)
`I applaud the president for rejecting the fatalism of failure and pursuing a new course to achieve success in Iraq.’
–Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.)
