Senator John Warner (R-Virginia), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, fresh from a trip to Iraq, on the war:
“I assure you, in two or three months, if this thing hasn’t come to fruition and if this level of violence is not under control and this government able to function, I think it’s a responsibility of our government internally to determine: Is there a change of course that we should take? And I wouldn’t take off the table any option at this time.”
If Senator Warner is now saying that he won’t rule out withdrawal — even as, nationwide, Republican congressional candidates are saying “stay the course” — this is a huge crack in the dike of Republican intransigence. No doubt the Senator is getting his share of antiwar flack from his constituents, many of whom plan on switching parties to vote for Jim Webb, antiwar Republican-turn-Democrat, for Senate against pro-war incumbent George “Macaca” Allen.
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