‘Meet the Press’ transcript for July 15, 2007

SEN. GRAHAM:  When General Petraeus comes back, he will tell us these things. I want to leave.  No American wants to occupy Iraq.  But history will judge us, my friend, not when we left, but what we left behind.  Do we leave a resurgent al-Qaeda that will kill every moderate who helped us?  Do we empower Iran?  Do they control the south of Iraq?  Nobody ever asks the consequences, polls the consequences of this idea, just wash your hands of Iraq.

SEN. WEBB:  It’s been, it’s been a hard, it’s been a hard month Lindsey.  You need to calm down my friend.

SEN. GRAHAM:  I’m going to listen to this general, and I’m not going to let any politician take the place of the general.

MR. RUSSERT:  I’ll give you a chance to respond.

SEN. WEBB:  Lindsey’s had a hard month.  You know, these people who have, you know, gathered around...

SEN. GRAHAM:  I don’t know about Lindsey having a hard month.

SEN. WEBB:  ...gathered around the president, you know, on the immigration bill, on this bill.  I know it’s, I know it’s been tough.

SEN. GRAHAM:  It’s about the next 20 and 30 years.

SEN. WEBB:  We got to, we got to bring people together, and you know, get a diplomatic solution in place here that’s in consonance with this.  When the president announced the surge in January, he said that, by the end of this year, all of the provinces in Iraq would be under the control of Iraqis. That’s clearly not going to happen.  And the bottom line here is whether you want to stay for 10 years or whether you want to stay for six months...

SEN. GRAHAM:  I want to, I want to beat extremism.

SEN. WEBB:  Excuse me.  Excuse me, friend.  We need to find a formula that takes care of the well-being of our soldiers and our Marines.  And there is no...

SEN. GRAHAM:  That we can agree on.

SEN. WEBB:  There is no operational policy...

SEN. GRAHAM:  That we can agree on.

SEN. WEBB:  ...that justifies what we’ve been doing.  But the tradition...

MR. RUSSERT:  But do you...

SEN. WEBB:  The traditional operational policy has been if you’ve been gone for a year, you get two years back.  We’re now in a situation where the soldiers and the Marines are having less than a one to one ratio, and somebody needs to speak up for them rather than simply defending what this president’s been doing.

SEN. GRAHAM:  When they re-enlist in the highest numbers anywhere else in the military, they’re speaking...

SEN. WEBB:  You know, this is one thing I really—this is one thing I really take objection to...

SEN. GRAHAM:  ...the soldiers are speaking, my friend.  Let them win.

SEN. WEBB:  ...is politicians who—at the...

SEN. GRAHAM:  Let them win.

SEN. WEBB:  Politicians who—may I speak?

SEN. GRAHAM:  They want to win, let them win.

SEN. WEBB:  Is politicians who try to put their political views into the mouths of soldiers.  You can look at poll after poll, and the political views of the United States military are no different than the country at large.  Go take a look at The New York Times today.

SEN. GRAHAM:  The soldiers...

SEN. WEBB:  Less than half of the military believes that we should be in Iraq in the first place.

SEN. GRAHAM:  Have you been to Iraq?  Have you ever been and talked to them? I’ve been seven times.

SEN. WEBB:  You know, have you ever been to these—I’ve been—I’ve covered two wars as a correspondent...

SEN. GRAHAM:  Have you been to Iraq?

SEN. WEBB:  I have been to Afghanistan as a journalist.

SEN. GRAHAM:  Have you been to Iraq and—have you been to Iraq and talked to the soldiers?

SEN. WEBB:  You know, you haven’t been to Iraq.

SEN. GRAHAM:  I’ve been to—I’ve been there seven times.

SEN. WEBB:  You know, you go see the dog and pony shows.

SEN. GRAHAM:  I’ve been there as a reservist, I have been there and I’m going back in August.

SEN. WEBB:  That’s what congressmen do.  Yeah, I have, I have—I’ve been a member of the military when the senators come in.

SEN. GRAHAM:  Well, all—listen, something we can agree on, we both admire the men and women in uniform.  I don’t doubt your patriotism.

SEN. WEBB:  Don’t put political words in their mouth.

SEN. GRAHAM:  You know, my election...

SEN. WEBB:  You do it—you’ve been doing it ever since I’ve been in Congress.

SEN. GRAHAM:  I’m up for re-election.  Every Republican who’s supporting this position is doing it against the polls.

SEN. WEBB:  You know, you said on the floor, “Let them win.  They want it.”

SEN. GRAHAM:  This is not about my election, my friend...

SEN. WEBB:  They want it, my friend.

SEN. GRAHAM:  ...this is about the next generation.

SEN. WEBB:  No, you said on the floor this week, “Let them win.”

SEN. GRAHAM:  The troops are not the problem.  The troops can win.  I...

SEN. WEBB:  Thirty-five percent of the United States military agrees with the policy of this president.

SEN. GRAHAM:  Well, why do they keep...

SEN. WEBB:  By poll.  By poll.

SEN. GRAHAM:  ...re-enlisting?  Why do they go back?

SEN. WEBB:  Because they love their country.

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