Posted on 06/29/2005 5:45:46 AM PDT by phoenix_004
Congressional critics of President Bush's stay-the-course commitment to the war in Iraq argued Wednesday that the administration lacks sufficient troops on the ground to mount a successful counterinsurgency. Democrats in particular criticized Bush for again raising the Sept. 11 attacks as a justification for the protracted fight in Iraq after the president proclaimed anew that he plans to keep U.S. forces there as long as necessary to ensure peace.
Urging patience on an American public showing doubts about his Iraq policy, Bush mentioned the deadly 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington five times during a 28-minute address Tuesday night at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Some Democrats quickly accused him of reviving a questionable link to the war in Iraq - a rationale that Bush originally used to help justify launching strikes against Baghdad in the spring of 2003.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi accused Bush of demonstrating a willingness "exploit the sacred ground of 9/11, knowing that there is no connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq."
Bush first mentioned the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center at the beginning of his speech, delivered at an Army base that has 9,300 troops in Iraq. He acknowledged that Americans are disturbed by frequent deaths of U.S. troops, but tried to persuade an increasingly skeptical public to stick with the mission.
"The war reached our shores on September the 11th, 2001," Bush told a national television audience and 750 soldiers and airmen in dress uniform who mostly listened quietly as they had been asked to do.
"Iraq is the latest battlefield in this war," he continued.
Bush said he understands the public concerns about a 27-month-old war that has killed more than 1,700 Americans and 12,000 Iraqi civilians and cost $200 billion. But he argued that the sacrifice "is worth it."
"We fight today because terrorists want to attack our country and kill our citizens, and Iraq is where they are making their stand. So we will fight them there, we will fight them across the world and we will stay in the fight until the fight is won."
He offered no shift in course in Iraq and said he did not believe it necessary to send more troops. U.S. forces in Iraq total just under about 140,000 and they constitute the bulk of the coalition fighting force.
Appearing on television news shows Wednesday, some key lawmakers took issue with that position.
Sen. John McCain, interviewed on CBS's "The Early Show," maintained that "one of the very big mistakes early on was that he didn't have enough troops on the ground, particularly after the initial victory, and that's still the case."
Sen. John Kerry, Bush's Democratic opponent in last year's presidential election, told NBC's "Today" show that the borders of Iraq "are porous" and said "we don't have enough troops" there.
Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America," disputed Bush's notion that sufficient troops are in place.
"I'm going to send him the phone numbers of the very generals and flag officers that I met on Memorial Day when I was in Iraq," the Delaware Democrat said. "There's not enough force on the ground now to mount a real counterinsurgency."
Biden argued, "The course that we are on now is not a course of success. He (Bush) has to get more folks involved. He has to stand up that army more quickly."
McCain, R-Ariz., did defend Bush's call to stop terrorism abroad before it reaches the U.S. shore. Appearing on CNN's "Larry King Live" program, McCain said that those spreading violence in Iraq "are the same guys who would be in New York if we don't win in Iraq."
Bush's speech marked the first anniversary of the transfer of power from the U.S.-led coalition to Iraq's interim government. The president cited advances in the past year, including the January elections, infrastructure improvements and training of Iraqi security forces.
Democrats also criticized Bush for not offering more specifics about how to achieve success in Iraq along with his frequent mention of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The president's numerous references to September 11 did not provide a way forward in Iraq," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said. "They only served to remind the American people that our most dangerous enemy, namely Osama bin Laden, is still on the loose and al-Qaida remains capable of doing this nation great harm nearly four years after it attacked America."
Bush urged Americans to remember the lessons of Sept. 11 and protect "the future of the Middle East" from men like bin Laden. He repeatedly referred to the insurgents in Iraq as terrorists and said they were killing innocent people to try to "shake our will in Iraq, just as they tried to shake our will on September the 11th, 2001."
Bush again rejected suggestions that he set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq or send in more troops. Setting a timetable would be "a serious mistake" that could demoralize Iraqis and American troops and embolden the enemy, he said.
The president also said that sending more troops would undermine the U.S. strategy of training Iraqis to be able to as quickly as possible take over the security of their country.
"Sending more Americans would suggest that we intend to stay forever," he said.
Beyond their criticism, Some Democrats said they thought Bush strengthened his credibility. "I think he told the American people why it's important," said Biden.
Said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.: "The president needs to do more of what he did last evening. This is a beginning."
Great links, thanks!
I don't mean to be a dolt...but what was the trap?
You're more than welcome. Use them if you can whenever you see the MSM and Democrats lie about this matter. (What am I saying? They CONSTANTLY lie about this matter.)
The Democrats are pussies.
Their idea of defending the US is to go out and sing on the Capitol steps. Now THAT will really scare a terrorist!
Last week when Rove gave his speech (that resulted in shrieking and hysteria by the Left), he clearly identified the conservative approach to the war on terror (offensive military ops) and the liberal approach (appeasement, court appearances). The Democrats, with their immediate knee-jerk whining about 9/11 and Iraq not being connected, only reinforce this image of being completely out of touch with this evil threat and the necessary response.
Speech transcript.
Do the Rats understand that THEY are the quagmire.
President Bush was very clear in his speech yesterday that Iraq is the center front on terror, and all the islamic terrorists including Al-Qaeda, are coming to Iraq to fight us, and that is why we are in Iraq for. To fight, kill, capture, and defeat the terrorists right there in Iraq instead of fighting them in our cities. Fight them and defeat in the Middle East instead of the Midwest, this is the simplest but the most brilliant strategy. This is the clearest of connections between 9-11, the war on terror in general, and the war in Iraq in particular. Now either the liberals are too stupid to still not understand this after President Bush made it very clear yesterday and has been talking about it for over two years, or they do understand it but they are just traitors who are undermining the war effort. I will go with the latter but this does not mean that liberals are not very stupid, they are.
The American Left is to Tokyo Rose and Axis Sally as space travel is to the horse and buggy.
Iraq is the center front on terror= Iraq is the center front in the war on terror.
Excellent analogy!
Precisely! They still want to draw up indictments and offer therapy over 9/11 - as Rove said. They don't understand that we were thrust into World War IV (if you count the lengthy war against the Soviet Union) on September 11, 2001. They just don't get it.
Interesting how the Dems are so hot to send more troops over there. Get those world opinions flared up against us, get those statistics up too. Maybe we'll need a draft, eh? Then they'd really have a gripe.
Yeah, that's the ticket. Send more troops into the "grotesque mistake," and then impeach GWB for it.
ROVE DIXIT
Great point! It's a good thing that the 9-11 commission wasn't around during WWII or they would have stated publically that "There is no link between Nazi Germany and the attack on Pearl Harbor".
Screw the damn dems. They want nothing good to happen in the USA while the Bush man is president. They want us to lose the war, have a depression, lose our civil rights etc. just so they can get back in power.
The correct answer has the word boobs in it, doesn't it?
Oh, yes. It is a deliberate goal on their part to do the same thing to the Iraq 'war' as they did to the Vietnam War -- make the US lose it.
bttt
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