CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., believes the United States should get out of the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya as soon as possible.

During a visit to the Gazette on Tuesday, Rockefeller also criticized the way military appropriations are often approved as part of "supplementary" budget legislation, hiding them from the public.

"The military budget needs to come under new scrutiny. When I voted for the Iraq War, it was one of the worst votes in my life," Rockefeller said.

"Today, I have grave misgivings about being in Iraq for another week. We should be out of Iraq this year altogether," he said. "We are not going to win. It is not in the cards. Many Asian countries have a totally tribal culture.

"It is the same thing in Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen," Rockefeller said.

"I didn't object to four days of bombing in Libya. But now the CIA is on the ground. That makes me nervous. I don't have any patience with the Libyan endeavor," Rockefeller said.

"Libya makes no sense to me. I don't think we should be there at all. We should get out of there and we should get out of Afghanistan. We can't win there. We can't change the country....

"Do you want three failed wars in a row? I don't want to be in those places. And it has a great deal to do with the [federal] budget."

Rockefeller also believes information provided to justify military interventions is often inaccurate.

"As a member of our [Senate] Intelligence Committee, we can investigate the skullduggery and the manipulation of information that is classified." 

But Rockefeller vigorously supports doing everything possible to protect our troops stationed in all those countries.

"My nephew has just gone over to Afghanistan, as a Marine. I don't want to do anything to hurt him or other soldiers."

Federal deficit

The federal budget deficit, Rockefeller said, has now reached a "stunning magnitude."

Rockefeller specifically criticized George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and current budget proposals from Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who became chairman of the House Budget Committee in January.

 "We have to come to grips with the fact that this [Bush's tax cut legislation] was a terrible idea. It is so unfair. The Ryan budget is foolish and cruel," Rockefeller said. "We are in a very perilous period."

Rockefeller said the Senate Commerce Committee, which he chairs, will also focus on preserving manufacturing jobs this year.

"We lost 25,000 manufacturing jobs in West Virginia in the last year and a half," he said.

Rockefeller believes our national intelligence and communications networks must be improved to guarantee communications between every police officer and public safety official in the nation.

"We are the only industrialized country in the world that does not have a digitized ground-based communications infrastructure. Even Mongolia has it," Rockefeller said.

Mine safety

Rockefeller reiterated his long-time support for coal miners and their industry.

"I always try to take care of the coal miners. It takes so many people to die before they [members of Congress] do anything at all. We may not get anything done this year in Congress."

Rockefeller is also a "big fan of whistleblowers," especially in the coal industry. He backs strong legislation to protect them.

"Look at the Toyota plant in Buffalo," Rockefeller said. "If one worker on one [manufacturing] line thinks there is a problem, he can stop work in that area immediately. A manager will immediately come over and work on the problem.

"The whole concept of safety is important to Toyota. But in the coal mines, workers are afraid they will be fired if they complain."

Rockefeller said, "I worry about the future of coal."

He continues to back legislation to restrict efforts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to deny new coal mining permits during the next two years.

"Clean coal is real. We can do it. I need time. That is all I ever wanted."

Under the current environment, Rockefeller said, "I don't think there will be any new coal-fired plants built in West Virginia. They will all go to natural gas."

Rockefeller expressed concern about the potential environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing of underground rocks to release natural gas from deposits like the huge Marcellus Shale reserves under most of West Virginia and in surrounding states.

Many critics fear the millions of gallons of chemically treated water needed to develop each new well, typically between 5,000 and 9,000 feet below the surface, will pollute streams and groundwater.

Rockefeller also worries about methane released during the fracking process.

"Methane lasts 20 times as long, and is more potent and destructive than carbon dioxide" released by coal-burning power plants when it comes to global warming, Rockefeller said.

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.