Dole: Dems appear 'content' to lose Iraq

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The political argument over the Iraq war flared Sunday when U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., said Democrats appear to be "content with losing" in Iraq.

Dole -- who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee -- was asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" about a new Vanity Fair article in which several leading figures in the planning of the 2003 invasion criticized the war.

Dole said the comments by such war supporters as Richard Perle, Michael Ledeen and former White House speechwriter David Frum had been reported out of context by Vanity Fair. She said Frum, for example, was expressing frustration about the course of the war, and that his main concern was that a loss in Iraq would be disastrous.

She went on to compare that with what she characterized as the Democrats' position on Iraq.

"It's almost as if the Democrats, you know, it's like they're content with losing," she said. "Because to pull out, withdraw from this war is losing."

Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, D-Ill., protested Dole's accusation.

"We want to win. We want a new direction to Iraq," said Emmanuel. "You should take that back, senator."

Emmanuel chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.