Bush Under Fire From GOP Members, Former Generals Over War

May 10, 2007 — -- President Bush is being taken to task over his handling of the Iraq War by members of his own party and three former generals who appear in a scathing TV ad.

Bush and a group of 11 GOP lawmakers met inside the White House residence -- an unusual occurrence and a meeting that also had an unusual tone, according to one participant.

The Congress members gave the president some blunt warnings about how long he could count on Republican support, and some pushed the president for a pullout from Iraq.

"It was probably one of the frankest, really no-holds-barred type of meeting where members of the House expressed in a very unvarnished fashion their feelings about what they're hearing back home and the discontent," said Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., who attended the meeting.

All of the Republican lawmakers say they support Bush on Iraq for now, but many are feeling intense pressure at home.

And some are now the target of a groundbreaking and pointed ad campaign featuring three retired generals who question Bush's continued commitment to the war.

It's a political message aimed at persuading a dozen Republican members of Congress to vote with Democrats to bring troops home.

The television ad shows a clip of Bush saying,"I have always said that I will listen to the requests of our commanders on the ground."

Retired Gen. John Batiste then appears and says, "Mr. President, you did not listen. You continue to pursue a failed strategy that is breaking our great Army and Marine Corps."

Batiste continues: "Mr. President, you have placed our nation in peril. Our only hope is that Congress will act now to protect our fighting men and women."

Batiste, along with former Gen. Paul Eaton and Gen. Wesley Clark, have teamed up with an anti-war veterans group to make the commercials.

Friends of Batiste worry he's crossed a line by participating in what amounts to a political ad.

"When you become part of the political process, you're taking some part of your uniform into that arena and that is an issue that many soldiers, whether they be active or retired, would have a problem with," said retired Gen. William Nash, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an ABC News consultant.