Fake Plastic News

On Iraq:

U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's leading Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr., accused the senator this week of remaining silent while the U.S. death toll in Iraq rises.

After months of maintaining a low profile, Casey said the Republican senator was being too focused on "partisanship and ideology" to go after President Bush with the fervor he showed during the 1999 U.S.-led raids of Kosovo under President Bill Clinton.

"The U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, who is third in the leadership, says one of the reasons people should vote for him is because he is in leadership," Casey said in an interview Thursday. "But he is not asking the tough questions."

Santorum responds:

"I have a very clear track record of being supportive of the policy, but not necessarily all of the tactics," the two-term senator said. "That shows a level of involvement and sophistication that my opponent has not grasped... . I still have concerns about our level of activity with respect to fighting the insurgency, and the number of former Baathists who are put in positions of power in the country and their relationships with Iran. I have expressed those concerns publicly and privately."

However, according to the Inquirer:

However, his public statements on those issues could not be found.

Oops!

Casey maintains that Santorum should be as pointed in his questioning as when Clinton, a Democrat, carried out U.S. missile attacks as part of NATO's efforts to end ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. To prove his point, Casey unearthed Santorum's comments from March 1999 that sound similar to current critiques of Bush's Iraq policy.

"President Clinton is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy," Santorum said after voting against U.S. involvement in Kosovo because Clinton failed to offer a compelling national interest. "He is yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And, he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home."

Santorum emerged a vocal opponent, saying in April 1999 that the conflict was beginning to resemble Vietnam.

Casey called Santorum "plainly inconsistent," saying his support for Bush's Iraq policy should not prevent him from demanding an exit strategy. Gen. Wesley K. Clark, a Democrat who commanded NATO forces during the Kosovo war, said in an interview yesterday that Santorum's criticisms are "precisely, to the nth power, what has been wrong with the Iraq strategy... . So when he doesn't apply the same standards, it makes you believe his criticism was purely partisan in nature."

"Beginning to resemble Vietnam". Right Ricky, a Vietnam where ZERO U.S. service people are killed. I'm glad to see Casey Jr., calling out Santorum on this issue. He's been quiet for awhile (which I agree with-no need to strike to soon. Wait for the right moment and make your attacks count.).

Update (8/25/05 3:33EST: Santorum's office can't find any public statements questioning the Iraq war:

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's office acknowledged yesterday that it cannot locate public statements of the senator questioning the Iraq war, despite the senator's claim last week that he has publicly expressed his concerns.

But Santorum said that doesn't mean he hasn't made the comments.

Perhaps, Santorum thought thinking about the Iraq war (somewhere between thoughts of women having an abortion), counted as questioning the Iraq war.