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White House slams Howard Dean's comments on Iraq

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 December 2005, 10:34 CST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House criticized Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean on Tuesday for saying it is wrong to think the United States will win in Iraq, saying he was sending the wrong message to U.S. troops.

Dean told San Antonio, Texas, radio station WOAI that "the idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong."

He predicted the Democratic Party would come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all U.S. forces within two years.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President George W. Bush is "focused on our plan for victory," and will give the second in a series of speeches on Wednesday about the way forward in Iraq looking ahead to December 15 elections.

"I think that on the eve of historic elections, it sends the wrong message to our troops. America wants our troops to win and we have a plan to help them succeed and we know that they will," McClellan said.

He suggested Dean had some explaining to do.

"I think those are remarks for him to clarify," McClellan said, calling it "absolutely the wrong message to send to our troops when we are on the verge of historic accomplishments."

Dean called Iraq "the same situation we had in Vietnam."

"Everybody then kept saying, 'Just another year, just stay the course, we'll have a victory.' Well, we didn't have a victory, and this policy cost the lives of an additional 25,000 troops because we were too stubborn to recognize what was happening," he said.

Dean is a former governor of Vermont who used anti-war rhetoric, smart use of the Internet and fund-raising prowess to become at one point a top contender for the role of Democratic candidate for president in 2004. His outspoken style has produced both admirers and critics in and out of the party.

Bush has rejected setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, saying it would encourage the Iraqi insurgency. His administration has recently gone on the offensive against critics of the war by warning that calls to withdraw could hurt the morale of U.S. troops there.

Source: REUTERS

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