WASHINGTON -- President Bush's vow to take the fight in Iraq to Syrians and Iranians operating inside the country has Republicans and Democrats concerned that the war could spread, just as the Vietnam War spread into Cambodia.
Bush outlined a plan Wednesday to send an additional 21,500 U.S. forces to Iraq to improve security. He also vowed to "interrupt the flow of support" from Iran and Syria to U.S. enemies in Iraq.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., a twice-wounded Vietnam veteran, called Bush's speech "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder ... since Vietnam -- and I intend to resist it."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, testifying Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the administration had no plans to cross Iraq's borders to attack supporters of the Iraqi insurgency and militias.
But Hagel compared that strategy to former President Nixon's escalation of the Vietnam War to Cambodia.
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"You cannot sit here today, not because you are dishonest or don't understand -- once you get to hot pursuit, no one can say we won't engage across border," he said. "Some of us remember 1970 and Cambodia, and our government lied to us and said we didn't cross the border. When you set in motion the kind of policy the president is talking about here, it is very, very dangerous."
As lawmakers expressed concern about a possible expansion of the war to Iraq's neighbors, U.S.-led forces in Iraq raided an Iranian consulate Thursday in the northern city of Erbil, detaining six Iranian employees and seizing property, according to Iraqi and Iranian officials.
Two Iranians were arrested in Baghdad by U.S. forces last month. After claiming diplomatic immunity, they were expelled by the Iraqi government.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe would not comment on Thursday's raid. "But the president made it clear last night that we will not tolerate outside interference in Iraq. And that's what the Iranians are up to," Johndroe said.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said that U.S. forces would deal with such threats "inside of Iraq" and that no one in the military command had recommended attacks on Iran.
In his speech Wednesday night, Bush said a second U.S. aircraft carrier strike force would be deployed to the Persian Gulf. He said the U.S. military would deploy Patriot anti-missile batteries to friendly governments in the region.
Bush spurned the recommendation last month of the Iraq Study Group to talk with Iran and Syria about stabilizing the situation in Iraq.
"These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq," Bush said. "Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."
