"Democratic Senate candidate James Webb said yesterday that it is time for the United States to seek an end to the fighting in Iraq through diplomacy, citing a new and dire assessment of the war effort by Virginia's senior senator, John W. Warner (R).

Webb sought to capitalize on Warner's appraisal of the war to highlight what Webb called the failure of his GOP opponent, Sen. George Allen, to face reality about the worsening situation in Iraq. Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday that the United States should reconsider its approach if the violence does not subside soon.

'They have a victory quite frankly in military terms,' Webb said of soldiers in Iraq. 'What we have to do is to move this into the political, diplomatic environment. All I've heard from Senator Allen is that we need a victory in Iraq, whatever that is.'

Allen, who is battling Webb for a second term, shot back that Webb's comments at a news conference yesterday in Richmond were turning Iraq 'into some sort of political game.' Allen's campaign quickly organized a conference call for reporters with Warner as a show of Republican unity.

'The bottom-line goal that Senator Warner and I share is that we cannot leave Iraq as a central haven for terrorists,' Allen said.

The exchange was the first substantive argument between the two on Iraq policy since they clashed Sept. 17 on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' And it comes as they prepare for their final scheduled televised debate Monday night.

Warner, who returned this week from Iraq, said parts of the country have 'taken steps backwards.' Webb, an early critic of the war, seized on Warner's comments as proof that Allen has failed to offer a clear plan for ending the war.

In his stump speech, Allen says the United States cannot 'cut and run' and must continue to fight in Iraq because 'there is no substitute for victory.' Webb said he wants the United States to start talking to Iraq's neighbors to develop plans to shift troops to other Arab nations.

'It's pretty hard to even see what Senator Allen's position is,' Webb said. 'The only things he has been saying is basically the three- or four-word phrase that matches what the administration has been saying.'

In the conference call, Allen warned that Iraq would escalate into chaos and become a haven for terrorists if troops leave before the country's government and police force are stable.

'These terrorist threats we face are real. This is not some political game we are in. . . . We need to remain vigilant in it rather than turn it into some political game, as my opponent wishes to do,' Allen said.

Warner declined to criticize Webb, but the senator predicted horrific consequences if 'those [oil] fields would fall into the hands of terrorists.' But he added that 'bold decisions' will be needed if the violence does not subside soon.

Webb said that if elected he would offer 'a different set of eyes on the problem.'

The return to the Iraq discussion marked a change for a campaign that has been dominated by personal issues, including Allen's alleged use of racial slurs in college and a 1979 article by Webb that some women have called demeaning.

In a two-minute commercial Monday, Allen asked for an end to personal attacks. 'The negative personal attacks and baseless allegations have also pulled us away from what you expect and deserve.'

But Allen yesterday unveiled two television ads, one attacking Webb on taxes and the other focused on Webb's attitude toward women 30 years ago.

The tax ad shows a rotating cube with the pictures of Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). 'There are some people in Washington who think you don't pay enough taxes. And they all support Jim Webb,' an announcer says.

The ad then accuses Webb of wanting to raise taxes on families by $2,000 a year and says he supports other tax hikes. Webb aides called the ad 'another gross misrepresentation of Jim's positions.'

The other Allen ad features a Naval Academy graduate who claims Webb made up her quotes after he interviewed her for the 1979 magazine article. The quotes did not appear in the article.

'I looked at him and said, 'I never said any of those things; they're all lies,' ' said Janice Buxbaum of Springfield. 'And he said, 'Too bad.' He's a bright man; he's just not an honest man. I don't want him in my party, and I don't want him in my Senate.'

In an interview, Buxbaum said that she could not recall the exact quotes Webb had proposed to use and that the quotes were removed after she refused to sign a release. She said Webb had showed her statements he planned to attribute to her about 'sexual activities and exploits' of female midshipmen.

'It didn't happen, so I never said it, and he was ascribing them to me,' she said.

Webb accused Allen of conducting a 'Karl Rove era' campaign, referring to President Bush's chief political adviser. 'This woman isn't even in the article,' Webb said." (Tim Craig and Michael D. Shear, The Washington Post, October 7, 2006)

Editor's Note: An index to coverage of George Allen on the Loper website may be found at http://loper.org/~george/archives/2006/Aug/925.html