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DeLay blasts 'blow-dried Napoleons'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, has sharp words for television military analysts who question the coalition's military strategy in the war in Iraq. "Frankly, what irritates me so much are these blow-dried Napoleons that come on television and in some cases have their own agendas," he said Thursday. "They're not involved in daily briefings. They're not at the command center. They're not on the ground." DeLay singled out CNN military analyst, Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander. "General Clark is running for president, yet he's paid to be an expert on your network. And he's questioning the plan and raising doubts as he becomes this expert," DeLay said. While Clark has acknowledged contemplating a presidential bid, he has not launched a campaign. DeLay offered these military analysts some advice: "I think they would serve the nation better if they would just comment on what they see and what they know, rather than putting their own agenda forward as an expert." I sat down with DeLay in his Capitol office on Thursday to discuss the war and Congress' debate over the war supplemental request. DeLay said he was "amazed" at the war effort to date and called the war plan "brilliant." "The progress that's been made is pretty overwhelming...travelling hundreds of miles in a week. I imagine now that we now control 90 percent of the country," he said. As for the outcome, DeLay was steadfast: "Victory has always been certain." Although he wouldn't project how long the war would last, DeLay urged Americans to be patient. He noted that coalition forces have conducted a campaign that has resulted in minimal military and civilian casualties. As Congress debates President Bush's request for a supplemental budget to pay for the war in Iraq, DeLay sent the message that the president is doing a good job leading the war effort, but Congress has a right to weigh in on how much money is needed and how it should be spent. "It's not that we're in conflict with the president. But there is a separation of powers and we have a responsibility and we hold to that responsibility," he said. "The monies that the president needs to fight the war are being given to him," DeLay said. "We'll give him some flexibility, but we're still holding on to the strings of the purse." Judy Woodruff is CNN's prime anchor and senior correspondent. She is also anchor of "Inside Politics with Judy Woodruff."
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