Kennedy calls Bush to account over Iraq

Forty years after his brother opposed the Vietnam war, Senator Ted Kennedy is speaking just as stridently against another unpopular conflict and calling his president to account. The surge has failed and American troops are embroiled in an Iraq civil war, Kennedy told Gulf News.

The situation in Iraq is the most pressing problem facing America, Kennedy believes and the Democrat senator for Massachusetts accuses President George W. Bush of failing the troops and "not giving them a policy worthy of their sacrifice".

Kennedy, 75, is an icon of liberal America.

His brother President John F. Kennedy was assasinated on November 22, 1963 and brother Senator Bobby Kennedy was assasinated on June 6, 1968. Bobby's opposition to the Vietnam war galvanised a generation and doomed the presidency of Democrat president Lyndon Baines Johhnson.

"I, and all Americans, support our troops," Kennedy said in an interview with Gulf News.

"They've fought and continue to fight bravely, and we owe them an extraordinary debt of gratitude. Unfortunately, the President has failed to give our troops a policy worthy of their sacrifice. He failed them when he sent them into a misguided war without a plan to win the peace. He failed them when he sent them into battle without adequate equipment, and he continues to fail them by relying on a military solution to violence that requires a political solution."

His comments came immediately after an acrimonious all-night debate when Republican senators blocked a Democratic attempt to withdraw US combat troops from Iraq. The session lasted through the night and into late morning at which time senators voted 52-47 in support of the legislation that would have begun the pullback within 120 days. But the tally fell short of the 60 votes needed to move to a final vote.

It was the first all-night session since November, 2003. Beds were installed for any senators needing a break from the proceedings, which were accompanied by an anti-war rally outside the building.

"When the president announced the current troop surge, he claimed it would be limited in size and duration. We have now sent nearly 30.000 troops as part of the surge, and still the president says we must wait longer for results. It's obvious that the surge has failed. Violence continues unabated in Baghdad and has spread across the country," Kennedy said.

Last week the House voted by 223 to 201 to withdraw most American troops from Iraq by next spring. Bush threatened to veto the bill and has ruled out any change in war policy before September, when General David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, issues a progress report.

"The political progress that was supposed to accompany the surge has yet to materialise. The promised reconciliation between religious and ethnic groups, the restructuring of the oil industry, and other basic reforms and benchmarks have yet to be achieved. As long as our troop commitment remains open-ended, and we continue to fight their civil war for them, the Iraqis will have no incentive to make the hard political choices necessary."

"We have given the President every opportunity to show progress, but our soldiers face an increasingly violent and deadly insurgency. Congress and the American people have lost faith in the Administration's competence and its ability to manage the war. It's time to change course in Iraq. The President must listen to Congress and the American people, begin to withdraw our troops from Iraq, and develop a serious plan to move forward."

More than 3,600 US troops have died in the Iraq war.

Senator Ted Kennedy

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (born February 22, 1932) is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party.

In office since November 1962, Kennedy is presently the second-longest serving member of the Senate, after Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

The most prominent living member of the Kennedy family, he is the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated in the 1960s. He is also the father of Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy.

In the period immediately after Bobby's assasination he was considered the politician most likely to be the next president. But then Chappaquiddick happened.

In the summer of 1969, Kennedy was driving with campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne.

Kopechne was killed when Kennedy drove his mother's vehicle off of a bridge and into a channel after a party at Chappaquiddick Island, Martha's Vineyard. The accident and Kennnedy's confused response to it (the police were not immediately contacted) ruined his presidential prospects.

However, the Republicans still considered him a serious threat and President Nixon ordered the break-in at Democrat headquartes in the Watergate complex in part to find out if Kennedy was planning to run.