RANGEL SEES A (W)ANGLE

BELIEVES PREZ WILL SAY WE WON &THEN QUIT WAR


President Bush will declare victory in Iraq and begin scaling back troop levels in the coming months because Republican lawmakers will repudiate him if he doesn't,Rep. Charles Rangel said yesterday."The President knows it's over" Rangel declared in an interview with the Daily News Editorial Board. "The Republicans know it's over". " I think the President's going to come up with some compromise, and he's not going to admit failure. He'll probably say we've won, but it's going to happen...and I don't know how many soldiers die while it's happening."Republicans are going to make it happen---no Americans are going to make it happen." he said. The political die was cast, Rangel said,when a delegation of GOP lawmakers visited the White House recently and put Bush on notice their support for the war is beginning to erode as the 2008 elections approach." The war is going to end ". he added. The President is in the 15th round . He's lost every round. The public is against him, and the Republicans are waiting for an opportunity to break politically."Despite Bush's reputation for hanging tough,Rangel said,the President understands that he cannot sustain an unpopular war with Republician defections."The Republicans want toget reelected,"he said. "I don't know if any of you know the burning desire to get reelected.It is as though the demons actually take over, and children and mothers are no longer important"Rangel who said he and Bush get along well personally despite profound policy differences, also said Bush has to be affected by the depth of public opinion against his policies."This man is down in the polls" Rangel said. " I mean, hey,we (all) got feelings. "When you become the joke of America ---you got kids, you got friends --it's got to hurt you." The powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee also predicted the immigration reform bill that passed the Senate will never make it through the House, where many Republican conservaties are vigorously apposed to the bill Bush has endorsed. "It ain't gonna happen." Rangel said. I don't see how it flies in the House." ----------Adapted from the New York Daily News 6-1-07

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