by Glynn Wilson

Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, a potential anti-war candidate in the 2008 presidential field, according to AP, urged fellow Democrats on Monday to show more backbone in challenging President Bush on his decision to invade Iraq.

"We must get out of our political foxholes and be willing to clearly and specifically point out what a strategic error the Iraq invasion has been," Feingold told an audience at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Watch the re-run on C-SPAN on TV, or watch the video online here.

Feingold, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees, said some Democrats in Congress gave in to "intimidation" by the Bush administration when they voted to authorize the war in 2002.

"If we do not show both a practical and emotional readiness to lead in the fight against terrorism, we will lose in '06 and we will lose in '08, just like we did in '02 and '04," he warned.

Feingold called for the censure of Bush over the administration's warrantless surveillance program back in March. So far, only two Democrats, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Barbara Boxer of California, have signed on as co-sponsors. Some on the hard left, and even some Republicans, have said censure is not the answer, impeachment is...

Feingold has also proposed that U.S. troops leave Iraq by the end of the year, rejecting criticism that such a move could lead to chaos there.

"I believe the situation would probably get better" if U.S. troops left, he said. "The lesson of insurgency is when the occupying power leaves, it tends to lessen, rather than increase, the level of violence."

He said people ask him at every stop he makes out in the country, including Montgomery, Alabama, why Democrats won't stand up publicly for what they believe - especially against President George W. Bush. This includes Bush's decision to invade Iraq, rather than pursuing al Qaeda.

Iraq was not on the administration's list of countries where al Qaeda was operating on 9/11, he pointed out.

"It was not even on THEIR list," he said.

Feingold, who cast the lone vote against the USA Patriot Act in the Senate, also said he has no confidence in the assurances issued Monday by Bush's new appointee to the CIA, Gen. Michael Hayden, that the NSA has not been spying on American citizens without warrants.