In a significant break from his previous support for the White House's Iraq policy, John Warner said today wants to see some US troops home by Christmas. The influential ex-chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has opposed Democratic attempts to force withdrawal, CNN reports, but now says a partial pullout "would get everyone's attention."
The move is the only way to galvanize Iraqi leaders into establishing order, said Warner, who recently accompanied current Armed Services chair Carl Levin to Baghdad. The Republican says both returned disenchanted. "I really believe the Iraqi government, under the leadership of PM al-Maliki, let our troops down," Warner said today. (More John Warner stories.)