Oh yeah, baby!

Virginia Sen.-elect Jim Webb said President Bush is a “failed president” who should use his last two years in office to repair America’s image abroad by ending the Iraq war through intensive diplomacy.

In an interview Tuesday with the Daily Press, Virginia’s newly elected Democratic senator made clear his antipathy toward Bush and his determination to help set a new course in Iraq.

[snip]

“He’s a failed president,” Webb said, when asked what he thinks of Bush. “He has two years to try to show some true leadership when it comes to rehabilitating the image of the United States around the world.

“I warned three months before we went into Iraq that we were squandering an historic opportunity to keep almost the entire world with us in the war against international terrorism. And we have failed utterly to do that. It is now up to us – and that hopefully includes the president – to try and remediate the situation in a way that will enhance the stability in the Middle East and rehabilitate our relationship with countries around the world.”

[snip]

“I want to hear the administration and the military leadership articulate the endpoint in their strategy,” Webb said. “How do we know when we are done?”

Asked about proposals for a short-term surge in troop levels, Webb said, “I’m willing to hear them out. I don’t see a clear reason for it. I want to see what they’re talking about.”