Snowe Embraces Troop Withdrawal BillBy ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
(07-11) 08:44 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --
Sen. Olympia Snowe on Wednesday became the second Republican
to embrace a bill ordering troops out of Iraq as President Bush's
national security adviser tried to stop defections from the White
House war policy.
Snowe, R-Maine, joined Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., in co-sponsoring
a bill that would require troops to start leaving in 120 days. The
bill also would end combat by April 30, 2008.
Snowe's endorsement is a shift for the senator, who in recent months
opposed a similar measure. Snowe had said earlier that she'd been
considering signing on to the measure because the situation in Iraq
was growing worse.
"Frankly, given the fact that the Iraqi government isn't prepared to
change its own political direction, we should be prepared to change
course with resepect to our strategy," Snowe told reporters Tuesday.
-snip-