Bush Iraq strategy gets double GOP whammy

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A key Republican senator called for a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, while a senior GOP congressman said the U.S. strategy for Iraq may be doomed.

U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., urged U.S. President George Bush to start withdrawing troops from Iraq by Christmas.

Warner, the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made his remarks as a new intelligence report concluded Iraqi political leaders are "unable to govern effectively," The Washington Post said Friday.

"I really, firmly believe the Iraqi government, under the leadership of Prime Minister (Nouri) al-Maliki, let our troops down," Warner said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, said Friday the strategy to install democracy in Iraq within three to five years was flawed and has little chance of succeeding, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Hoekstra had been a supporter the Bush administration's efforts in Iraq. Speaking during a taping of Michigan Public Television’s “Off the Record,” he said Congress and President George Bush together must decide on a strategy that would stabilize Iraq, the Free Press reported.

However, he didn't call for a timetable for withdrawal.