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SATURDAY'S EDITORIAL

Graham tells it like it is about Iraq

THE ISSUE: Growing doubts about war

OUR OPINION: Bush must step up and outline a plan for American involvement

Leave it to S.C. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to cut through the partisanship.

For weeks now, Democrats such as Sen. Joe Biden have been taking to the airwaves to tell Americans it's time the Bush administration leveled with the country about what is taking place in Iraq. They've been attacked as Bush administration opponents only speaking out for political gain.

On Thursday, the message that it's time the administration face reality came through loud and clear and in a bipartisan, formal fashion.

It was none other than the top American commander in the Persian Gulf who told Congress that the Iraqi insurgency has not grown weaker over the past six months, despite a claim by Vice President Dick Cheney that it is in its "last throes."

Gen. John Abizaid's testimony came at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing at which Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld clashed with members of both parties. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts renewed a call for him to step down.

Rumsfeld, Abizaid and other top defense officials were grilled on the future presence of U.S. troops in Iraq. As to proposals from some lawmakers to set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal Rumsfeld said: "That would be a mistake."

Setting an arbitrary date might well be a mistake, since the objective of the insurgency is not to defeat the U.S. military, it is to sink the country into civil war and force our exit amid political pressure such as that building in this country. But there is a need for straight talk to Americans about how long this war will take and what the cost will be.

Biden was asked on national television about a recent interview with an American mother in which she stated that allowing a child to go to Iraq would be sending the man or woman off to die for who-knows-what. The Delaware senator responded that lack of understanding about what is happening in Iraq and what the plan is for success there has more and more Americans feeling similarly.

It's time for the Bush administration to quit telling Americans simply that we will stay the course in Iraq. The nation needs to see what our plan is for victory there and be told what it will take to achieve it.

To even the most casual observer, the insurgency is anything but defeated. More and more Iraqis are being killed by car bombs and other attacks. The insurgents have the ability to sink the country into chaos — and stopping it will be an increasingly difficult process.

During the Senate hearing, it was South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham who told Rumsfeld and Abizaid the reality of the situation.

"Public support in my state is turning. People are beginning to question. And I don't think it's a blip on the radar screen. We have a chronic problem on our hands."

It's up to our national leader, President Bush, to step forward and provide leadership and a realistic policy on what to do in and about Iraq.