There have been a lot of fireworks in the Senate primary, but voters have heard little of substance to show for it. Saturday’s National Journal [$$$] documents what would seem to be the first clash over real issues in the race:

“My consensus at this point is, there is not the will of this administration to fight the war to win the war, and therefore, they should task the Pentagon to come up with their own timeline to safely withdraw the materiel and personnel from Iraq and end it,” [HACKETT] says.

Hackett says he would “defer to the expertise of the military” on how long that might take, but adds, “I would suspect, based on little old Major Hackett’s experience,” that the withdrawal could take place “in less than a year.”

Hackett’s likely primary opponent is Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who is expected to formally announce his Senate candidacy after Thanksgiving. Brown has endorsed the legislation by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., that would require Bush to draft a plan for ending America’s involvement in the war by year’s end and to begin withdrawing troops by October 2006.

“I just think the public is fed up with the way the Bush administration has handled the war — the planning for it, the equipping of the troops, the inability to get out,” Brown says. “The Democrats, for policy reasons, for moral reasons, and for political reasons, need to say, ‘We need an exit strategy, we need to have that set soon, and we need to exit the country as soon as we can.’ ”

Although both candidates criticize the war, the emerging debate will position Brown slightly to Hackett’s left. Hackett says it is “absolutely moronic” for members of Congress “who have no military expertise” to set specific deadlines for withdrawal. Brown counters that the proposal he’s endorsed would allow for input from the military, and he charges that Hackett has shifted toward greater opposition to the war.


Personally Hackett’s position makes more sense to me, although I can see Brown’s position as being easier to sell to liberals. Congress and the Executive Branch have been way too into the details of how various government organizations implement things. Why do we hire all of these experts if we don’t let them do their job? Things should be as easy as: here’s your mission… get r done.