LJWorld.com

U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., on Wednesday said that the Bush administration needed new strategies in Iraq and in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

During a telephone conference with Kansas news reporters, Brownback, the state's senior senator, called on the White House to quickly reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.

"What I think the White House needs to articulate is a strategy for reducing our troop numbers and increasing and standing up an Iraqi military and police force to take over the patrolling," Brownback said. "We're great on offense as a military, but when we are defending or patrolling, we become targets."

Brownback, heretofore a staunch backer of Bush administration actions in Iraq, said he was confident the United States would remain committed in Iraq and be successful.

But, he said, "this daily troop loss is really a difficult thing, and it hurts us. Every life to us is sacred, and it pains all Americans when we lose anybody in the field of combat.

"It is critical to us that we stand up an Iraqi police force and military and start to garrison our troops and pull our numbers down. This is the most vulnerable time for us."

Brownback also said he supported President Bush's request for $87 billion for military operations and reconstruction of Iraq, but that half of the $20 billion earmarked for reconstruction should be in the form of loans to the country instead of grants.

"Iraq has the potential for a strong economy in many sectors and the availability to repay this," Brownback said.

He also said the budget request probably could be pared down by $2 billion by eliminating such items as construction of human rights memorials and the purchase of garbage trucks at $50,000 apiece.

Iraqi boys wave to U.S. soldiers visiting the Al-Fathilia school on the outskirts of Baghdad. U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., called for the Bush administration to quickly reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. "It is critical to us that we stand up an Iraqi police force and military and start to garrison our troops and pull our numbers down," Brownback said Wednesday. "This is the most vulnerable time for us."

The memorials, he said, are "fully appropriate to do, but the American taxpayers should not pay for that."

Brownback has been a supporter of the war in Iraq. His comments come at a time when American support of the war is waning.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday shows that support for the war in Iraq had dropped from 70 percent in April to 54 percent.

Fifty percent approved of Bush's handling of the war, down from 67 percent in June and 75 percent in April. The survey questioned 1,000 people Oct. 9-13 and has a 3-point margin of error.

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On Israel, Brownback said the current peace process wasn't working.

He said perhaps the debate between Israel and the Palestinians should focus on the questions about the status of Jerusalem and the proposed recognition of a state for Palestine.

"I say you put those sorts of issues side-by-side to debate in a set of talks, rather than this land-for-peace approach that we have been on for 10 years that has not worked," Brownback said.