Reid: Pace Failed on Iraq War Assessment

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace, right, looks on as President Bush, left, speaks to reporters about Iraq, at the Pentagon in this May 10, 2007 file photo. ( AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) (Charles Dharapak - AP)

"The debate about this war has gone into the gutter when the Democrat leader of the United States Senate uses disparaging remarks to describe our military leadership," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Reid "needs to clarify his criticisms, which can only be described as highly inappropriate and regrettable."

Sen. John Warner, the No. 2 Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said congressional leaders should be allowed to speak freely on their assessment of military officers. But he indicated he was concerned that any suggestion Pace was incompetent could undercut the morale of the troops.

"How this will affect the troops remains to be seen," Warner said. "But that is a factor I hope (Reid) weighed before making that statement."

Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher, D-Calif., said Wednesday she thought Pace was guilty of a dereliction of duty because of his support for Bush's Iraq policy.

Tauscher, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Pace lost standing among members in March when he said homosexual acts were immoral and that the military should not condone the behavior by letting gays serve openly. Pace later apologized, including in a letter to Tauscher, for expressing what he said were his personal views.

Tauscher said his comments on gays "showed his ignorance" and "had to be deeply discounted because they came from a man who had presided over a war that we got into on a lie and what I consider to be a serious dereliction of duty in having our troops and our readiness so destroyed by the policies of this administration."

A spokeswoman for Pace, Marine Col. Katie Haddock, said Pace "is focused on his duties as chairman and is not going to respond to press reports on who's saying what. He will let 40 years of service speak for itself." A spokesman for Petraeus in Baghdad did not immediately respond to an e-mail request, sent late Thursday evening, for comment.

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Associated Press writer Ben Feller contributed to this report.