D.C. furor over 'war is lost' remark

WASHINGTON, April 20 (UPI) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has created an uproar in Washington by saying he told President George Bush the war in Iraq was lost.

At a news conference Thursday where he took no questions, Reid said during a Wednesday meeting with Bush, he told the president "this war is lost," although White House staff said no one recalls hearing that, the Washington Times reported.

Reid has advocated cutting off war funding if Bush follows through on his threat to veto a mandated withdrawal date, which both the House and Senate have attached to bills for $100 billion in emergency war funding.

Reid said he also told Bush not to follow the path of President Lyndon Johnson, who "did not want a war loss on his watch," the New York Times reported.

Meanwhile, signs of fatigue at the bickering over the bill were beginning to show, the report said.

"The president is going to veto it anyway, so what difference does it make?" said Rep. James Moran, D-Va., "This bill is a shell of itself. It's not worth fighting over."