Snowe, Collins oppose timetable

PORTLAND – Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe has called on President Bush to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. But both she and fellow Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine oppose a specific timetable for achieving the goal.

Snowe said Wednesday that Bush needs to establish “an exit strategy of definitive benchmarks that will result in the transition to Iraqi independence.”

Snowe’s comments echoed a resolution the Senate approved Nov. 15 on a 79-19 vote that called for a “significant transition” to Iraqi sovereignty during the coming year and for Bush to provide quarterly updates until troops are withdrawn.

Collins, meanwhile, agreed with Bush that it would be counterproductive to set a deadline for withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

“Although I am eager for our troops to return home as soon as possible, our ability to do so is contingent on the Iraqi security forces and Iraqi army taking over responsibility for securing their country,” Collins said.

The comments from Snowe and Collins came on the same day Bush urged patience as he spelled out what he called his strategy for victory in Iraq, a plan that contained no new approaches and no start date for withdrawing U.S. troops.

In a speech at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., he urged patience, claimed steady progress and vowed to accept nothing less than “complete victory.”

Bush’s comments came two weeks after a prominent defense hawk, Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, called for Bush to begin a troop withdrawal.

Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, praised Bush for offering a “small step” toward more detailed plans in Iraq. But he expressed disappointment that the speech didn’t offer anything new.

“It does not give a strategy for success,” Michaud said. “We must have a real and sensible discussion on the future of Iraq. It should start with a real plan for success and a commitment to protecting our troops better and getting them home as soon as possible.”

Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, said Bush should have acknowledged that the American presence inflames the insurgency and that withdrawal is necessary.

“We need a political settlement in Iraq that can be maintained over time to avoid a civil war,” Allen said. “But because our presence inflames the insurgency and keeps it going, we have to do a staged withdrawal.”