Why I Like Republican Senator Dick Lugar

 

 

In 1996 when Senator Richard Lugar ran a campaign for the White House I was very pleased.  He was one of those few solid thinkers within the Republican Party that based his decisions on creating good policy, rather than mere political maneuvering.  His foreign policy thinking reflected years of research and discussions on a wide variety of issues.  When I told a relative that year I could actually vote for Lugar in a general election I meant it.  Though I had differences with the Senator on some issues I respected his intellect.  I am drawn to people with keen minds, and Senator Lugar fit the bill.  I was just sorry his campaign that year never lifted off of the ground as I found many of his foreign policy thoughts on target. 

I mention the above as an opening to show that my praise for Senator Lugar is not a recent happening.  On November 20, 2006 I cited Lugar as an example of a smart Republican when writing about the lack of curiosity within President Bush.  But I admit that I was very proud when Lugar, who is the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, became a public Iraq War critic.  If Bush and Company thought they could send National Security Advisor Hadley to the Hill and calm the GOP by placing the blame for the loss of Iraq on the military, Senator Lugar sent a powerful message down to the White House.  No way!

While serious minds know the military does need to take their share of responsibility in the Iraq failure, Lugar again demonstrated last week that political maneuvering is not his style.  He was not about to let the White House weasel out of taking their fair share of the blame….which is the bulk of the blame to start with.  The GOP is very nervous as they see the meltdown coming in their direction in 2008.  So the effort to cast blame to better position their candidates is in full swing.  Lugar decided he would have none of it.

When Dick Lugar talks he does so with that soft reasoned tone.  His words and thoughts need no volume and bombast.  He made that quite clear to Bush and Company.

“Our course in Iraq has lost contact with our national security interests in the Middle East and beyond,” he said. “Our continuing absorption with military activities in Iraq is limiting our diplomatic assertiveness there and elsewhere in the world. The prospects that the `surge’ strategy will succeed as originally envisioned by the president are very limited within the period framed by our domestic political debate. And the strident, polarized nature of that debate increases the risk that our involvement in Iraq will end in a poorly planned withdrawal that undercuts our interests in the Middle East.”

I think Karl Rove and his cronies will think twice before calling Lugar a defeatist.  Lugar will only smile at them, and then continue to do his work as a serious and mature thinker in the Senate.  That is why I have always liked Dick Lugar.

Technorati Tags: SenatorLugar, IraqWar, PresidentBush