GOP Sen. Gordon Smith calls war in Iraq 'insane' David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Tuesday July 10, 2007 Print This Email This Fox News, reporting Tuesday on the increasing number of Republicans in Congress criticizing the Iraq War, interviewed Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), cosponsor of a resolution for withdrawal. Smith is known for a speech last December in which he stated, "I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal." Smith told Fox, "If I could do anything over, I would  in that speech I gave  I would replace the word 'criminal' with the word 'insane.'" He suggested that the "surge" might have had a chance of working four years ago, but said, "On my numerous visits to Iraq ... each time I go, the government seems more and more dysfunctional. And all we're doing is depending on them to step up and govern." Smith went on to explain the legislation he is sponsoring, saying, "There's nothing in this amendment that says we withdraw from the war on terror." When Fox host Shepard Smith pressed him on whether there might be a civil war in Iraq that is indistinguishable from the war on terror, the senator denied both points. "It may become a full-blown civil war," he acknowledged, "but the point is, it's not ours, it's theirs. It's not something we can win. ... I'm just tired of American kids dying for that." The following video is from Fox's Studio B, broadcast on July 10.





