Tennessee Republicans show differences on Iraq strategy

Although he’s the titular head of the state Republican Party, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander’s call for a new strategy in Iraq clashes with some party leaders within his own state’s GOP.

Alexander is co-sponsoring an amendment along with 12 other Republican and Democratic senators to a Department of Defense authorization bill to make the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations law.

His strategy is at odds with President Bush, as well as U.S. Sen. Bob Corker and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Brentwood), who have encouraged Congress to wait to hear Lt. Gen. David Petraeus’ status report on Iraq in September.

Alexander is eager to hear Petraeus’ report, but he says he also wants action now.

As part of the 79 recommendations contained within the so-called Baker-Hamilton Commission’s report, U.S. troops in Iraq would be moved from a combat role to a training, equipping and advising role within a year of implementation. It would drastically cut the troops in Iraq by as much as half to less than 100,000.

“I thought the president should have adopted Baker-Hamilton in January, I said he should’ve done it in March and I think he should do it today,” Alexander said last week. “And any of those three days will better than doing it in September.”

The viewpoint of Tennessee’s senior senator collides with the wait-until-September beliefs of Republicans like Corker and Blackburn as well as U.S. Rep. David Davis (R-Johnson City).

Corker says that while he has “serious concerns” about the situation in Iraq, the U.S. would be in a “better position” to assess whether Bush’s troop surge has worked in September.

Blackburn said the U.S. hasn’t given the surge and Petraeus’ Iraqi plan a chance to work. The last troops for the surge just recently arrived in Iraq, she says.

“Maybe that is a Plan B to move to that template,” Blackburn said of the Iraq Study Group recommendations. “But I think let’s give our troops the opportunity to do their job.”

Alexander says the problem with the surge is it’s not a new strategy and compared waiting until September to “driving the wagon right up to the cliff and then deciding what to do.” The surge makes more sense, Alexander says, if there is a plan for post-surge Iraq.

Alexander’s amendment does have support from one prominent Tennessee Republican, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Chattanooga). Wamp is a co-sponsor of similar legislation in the House that would make the Baker-Hamilton Commission recommendations law.

Wamp said the Iraq Study Group provides a “bipartisan road map” that could bring the country together to try and find a successful solution in Iraq that has soft deadlines on troop withdrawals.

“The Iraq Study Group is the only thing that really has that kind of bipartisan credibility that we can start to follow,” Wamp said. “So I think it’s a very reasonable approach. And I don’t think in anyway it undermines the president or Gen. Petraeus.”

Alexander’s call for a new Iraq strategy has brought the senator national media attention as he’s joined a growing list of Republican senators defecting from Bush and calling for a new course in Iraq.

It has also brought him criticism from some Republicans who think he’s not shooting for victory in Iraq.

Steve Gill, a conservative talk show host on 1510 WLAC, has interviewed Alexander about his new Iraq strategy and says his “biggest concern” is that Alexander is not talking about winning and victory in Iraq.

“I don’t hear words like victory, success and win in his new strategic move,” Gill said. “And he didn’t ever use the words victory, win, success. It was how do we extricate our troops from the combat business with honor.”

A vote on Alexander’s Iraq Study Group amendment could happen this week. Co-sponsored along with 12 other senators perceived to be moderates, the amendment is being opposed by both sides of the political spectrum.

Democrats wanting to end the war in Iraq, like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), have called it “toothless” and criticized it for not having a timetable for withdrawal. Meanwhile, many Republicans want to wait on Petraeus in September.

One top Tennessee Republican, U.S. Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-Knoxville), has been against the Iraq war since its inception.