Military officials: Senators predict bipartisan support for war
Biden, Hagel in Qatar as part of Persian Gulf tour
From Wolf Blitzer
CNN
DOHA, Qatar (CNN) -- Two influential members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee met Sunday with the U.S. military commander planning a possible war against Iraq and predicted strong bipartisan support if President Bush were to give the order to go to war, military officials say.
Sens. Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, and Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, on a tour of the Persian Gulf region, were briefed by Gen. Tommy Franks and his staff at the Central Command's temporary headquarters at the As Saliyah base in Qatar.
The headquarters is in place to command the Internal Look war game that begins in the region Monday.
According to U.S. Central Command officials who attended the briefing at the top secret headquarters, Biden said he had never seen such detailed, comprehensive and modern military planning in his 30 years in Congress.
The two senators arrived in Doha on Saturday night after a visit to northern Iraq, where they met with Iraqi opposition forces, led by the Kurds.
"We saw a unity among the Kurds that, quite frankly, I didn't fully expect," Biden said, "and we saw a progress where the Kurds have essentially ran northern Iraq since we put the no-fly zone in."
Hagel said the people of northern Iraq have "high expectations" for the United States but that he came away from the visit clear that the Kurds were committed to the effort to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"They know that there is an opportunity here; if they unite, if they work together through this one common coalition of common interests, they can make their lives better, and they've done a remarkable job in the last 10 years," he said.
Central Command officials said the senators toured the base Sunday and had breakfast with the troops.
The senators were accompanied by the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Maureen Quinn.
