With President Obama poised to make a case for an expanded U.S. military commitment to the Middle East, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to draw distinctions between that and the previous Iraq war, which deposed Saddam Hussein at the cost of thousands of American troops’ lives.
Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, said Wednesday the Islamic State is “evil” and said Mr. Obama is doing the right thing by trying to build an international coalition to confront it.
He urged Americans to give Mr. Obama a chance to make his case later Wednesday for action — but also made clear that this wouldn’t be a repeat of the ground war launched by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr. Cheney spoke to Republicans on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
“Dick Cheney is more responsible than anyone else for the worst foreign policy decision in the history of the country — the invasion of Iraq,” Mr. Reid said.
Mr. Reid also voted for the 2002 resolution authorizing the war in Iraq, but has since said he regrets it, and questions the need for the war.
“Was that was necessary? In hindsight, it appears to me, it really wasn’t,” he said.
He said if the GOP listens to Mr. Cheney, they might be swayed to “rush to commit U.S. troops to a ground war in the Middle East.”
“I say to Democrats and Republicans, let’s destroy these despicable terrorists, but let’s do it the right way this time,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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