McConnell argues against resolutions that tell the troops their mission doesn't have a chance of succeeding





WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on ‘Face the Nation’ this morning. The following are excerpts from the program:



On the consequences of a Senate resolution against the President’s strategy for victory in Iraq:



"The Washington Post had it right the other day. They said the Senate is about to confirm General Petraeus overwhelmingly—which we did the next day—but they want to tell him his mission can't succeed. What I'll be doing is trying to appeal to my Republican colleagues to not pass a non-binding resolution that basically says to the troops who are going there, ‘this is a mission that doesn't have a chance of succeeding.’”



On the need to succeed in Iraq:



“Everybody understands that this needs to succeed and it needs to succeed soon. The definition of success being a capital city calm enough for the government to engage in the kind of political compromises that need to be made. It's pretty hard to engage in political compromise when bombs are going off everywhere. So you have to have some degree of calm before any of this has a chance to work. It needs to work sometime soon.



“General Petraeus said the other day, obviously in a perfect world he would prefer no resolution at all, but if we had a resolution that made it clear that the Iraqis were expected to do certain things, it might be helpful to him. It would give him something to point to in dealing with the Iraqis.”



“We're not going to talk about failure. We're going to talk about success. One thing a lot of people have forgotten is going on offense after 9/11 has been a huge success. The principal reason we went on offense was to protect us here at home. Who would have thought after five years we'd not be attacked again here at home. That part has been a 100 percent success. It has been, however, much more difficult to establish the kind of government in Iraq that we had hoped. It's been challenging of late in Afghanistan. But we don't want to allow these places, Bob, to become once again where these elements like al Qaeda can operate with impunity and then be prepared to launch attacks on us again here in America.’



On the possibility of a filibuster:



“If you mean by filibuster, preventing a vote, that was never in the cards. But 41 Senators, and we have 49 Republicans, more than 41 Senators on our side will insist on a fair process that will ensure that we have several votes, all of which will be subject to a 60-vote threshold like they always are in the Senate. That's routine business in the Senate.”



“It's never been in the cards that we would not vote on something this important; it's the most important issue in the country. What we will insist on, however, which you can do under Senate procedures, is there will be several options so Senators will have a choice.



On the possible outcomes of Iraq resolutions in the Senate:



“I am not certain that any of these will get 60 votes. We'll find out in the coming week or two.”





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