Alexander Touts Iraq Study Group Findings

JIM LEHRER:

Now the fourth of our conversations with U.S. senators about Iraq. We've talked this week with Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrats Carl Levin and Joe Biden. Tonight, we balance the plate with Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander. He supports the recommendations made by the Iraq Study Group.

Senator Alexander, welcome.

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), Tennessee: Hello, Jim, how are you?

JIM LEHRER:

Just fine, sir. You voted yesterday against allowing an up-or-down vote on the Democrats' withdrawal legislation. Why did you do that?

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER:

Well, first, I don't think that we should have a fixed withdrawal deadline. The Baker-Hamilton recommendations, which you just mentioned, rejected that idea. They said that, in a war, that while you might have a goal or a direction — and they recommend that we move combat troops out of the combat business into what they call support, equipping, and training over the next year, but they say subject to developments on the ground.

So the president is the commander-in-chief. We don't have 100 generals over here in the Senate. Actually, we do, but we don't want them running any war. And so I'm opposed to a fixed withdrawal deadline for that reason.

JIM LEHRER:

This was not a party issue for you, Democrats versus Republicans?

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER:

Well, I don't want it to be. We've had too many partisan votes, and that's the reason why I've spent so much time on the Baker-Hamilton recommendations. We now have eight Democrats, six Republicans who would like for the Democratic leadership to back off a little bit, spend a little more time on consensus-building, and less on partisanship, and would like for the president to be more flexible. I think if they both would, we'd have 60 or 70 votes for a unified bipartisan consensus here about where to go in Iraq.