Radanovich, Nunes: Stay the course in Iraq
On Tuesday, two local Republican congressmen -- George Radanovich of Mariposa and Devin Nunes of Visalia -- met separately with The Bee's Editorial Board as part of our recommendations process for the Nov. 7 election. Both said they back President Bush on his Iraq war policy, as well as the president's judgment about keeping Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the job.
Rumsfeld, the controversial defense secretary, is again a target of criticism. According to journalist Bob Woodward's new book, Andrew Card, who was then White House chief of staff, twice tried to get the president to fire Rumsfeld. Bush refused.
Radanovich and Nunes said the United States has no choice but to continue the current effort in Iraq, which both acknowledged would be a lengthy engagement before victory can be won. Radanovich said the United States will be in Iraq for many years, and he could see American presence in the country for 30 years or more.
On another matter, both congressmen also expressed "full confidence" in House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who is under fire by some in his own party over the way he handled the e-mail case involving Rep. Mark Foley, who resigned Friday. Foley was disgraced after it was revealed that he sent sexually explicit e-mails to former House pages.
Some have called for Hastert's resignation, but Radanovich and Nunes said the speaker acted properly in the Foley matter. Nunes also said the timing of the release of the Foley information was suspicious, and he believed the Democrats leaked the details of the Foley e-mails to help with their election efforts to win back the House.
So the Democrats knew about this, but the Republicans didn't?