Posted on 01/10/2007 2:30:20 PM PST by STARWISE
Unswayed by anti-war passions, President Bush will send 21,500 additional U.S. troops to Iraq and build the American presence there toward its highest level to quell worsening bloodshed. The move puts Bush on a collision course with the new Democratic Congress and runs counter to advice from some senior generals.
Set to announce his decisions in a prime-time speech Wednesday night, Bush was to acknowledge making major mistakes in Iraq, primarily failing to deploy enough U.S. soldiers and demand more Iraqi troops and cooperation to confront the country's near-anarchy.
In advance of Bush's address, White House counselor Dan Bartlett said U.S. military operations have been "handcuffed by political interference by Iraqi leadership" — but now will proceed under rules allowing troops to confront Shiite militias as well as Sunni insurgents.
(snip)
The new Democratic leaders of Congress met with Bush and complained afterward that their opposition to a buildup had been ignored. "This is the third time we are going down this path. Two times this has not worked," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Why are they doing this now? That question remains."
Senate and House Democrats are arranging votes urging the president not to send more troops. While lacking the force of law, the measures would compel Republicans to go on record as either bucking the president or supporting an escalation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carried live online by: C-span
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Coleman surprises me too.
9 Repubs against....Fox saying Lieberman is for the plan....
You know what I think? Every congress critter's daily schedule should be posted so we know where they are, with whom they have meetings, and what they are doing, including bathroom breaks. They are our employees, after all.
Brownback, Coleman, and also I believe I have read Warner, Voinovitch (no doubt crying again) and let's see...Collins and Snowe...that's six. WHo else?
Actually I'd like to hear more about the OTHER battles in the GWOT - not just Iraq. Bush should announce some redeployments to places like Somalia.
Like I said last night...the rats wouldn't have a symbolic vote if they didn't have enough votes....yesterday they went behind close doors for hours tallying the votes...now they have 9 Repubs that will join them.....
who did we mention last night...isn't Hagle one of them too?
Brownback is against the president? not good.
Bill says media has a vested interence in having this fail.He is showing the media bias from various networks.
Well, he didn't meet my "ruthless SOB" for Pres in 08 criterion anyway.
Aren't these the same Generals and Sec. of Defense that the Dems all wanted fired because of their incompetence?
Anybody else find their "talking points" a bit strange????
..was just musing outloud.. Yes, FR cuts threw the blur of the MSM. I have to rely on FR and FAITH or would be totally lost.
He has undoubtedly told them.. It is me or you and I have the most powerful military in the world in my command.
The Iraqi government is going to allow the president to do what he wants to do.
Letting the Iraqi's Shiite government run the show has failed. What we need to do is make that Government a puppet government under our control.
We need to kill militant Shiites and Sunnis... we must show those that oppose us no mercy.
If we do that in a very short time there will be no resistance.
I would warn the Democrats about Abraham Lincoln. In 1863 no one thought the Republicans could win in 1864. It was obvious that Lincoln was a dead duck and that Democrats were going to rule the roost once the 1864 elections were over.
Then and at long last, Lincoln put General Grant in charge of the American military. For several long years Generals only capable of losing were in charge. And once Grant got the leadership of Army of the Potomac the South was certain to be defeated.
Once the south was defeated Lincoln's popularity skyrocketed.The man who had no chance in 1863 won an easy victory in 1864.
Not much has changed with the American people.. even in our civil war Americans loved a winner and hated a loser. It took Lincoln from 1861 until nearly 1864 to figure out how to win the Civil war. Today Lincoln is a great hero. But there was a time when the media portrayed Abe as dumb oaf and physical freak from the backwoods. The elite of the day liked to say he was way out of his league... Lincoln, they said, was just not bright enough to do the job.
If Bush only fails as much as Lincoln he will go down in history as a very great man.. and the media of that time and this time will go down as losers that can't be trusted to get much of anything right.
To those that think of Lincoln as the man in the Lincoln monument, I would invite you to look at the press coverage of Lincoln in 1863 and early 1864. Press reports on President Lincoln were far worse than those on President Bush. AS ususal the press was and is wrong.
But history only records fantastic victories. It does not record all the misteps on the way to victory.
The thing that makes President Bush special to me is he is not afraid to change course when things go wrong. That is trait that both LBJ and Nixon lacked. That is why they failed in Viet Nam and President Bush like President Lincoln will succeed.
SEN. NORM COLEMAN (R), MINNESOTA: A troop surge in Baghdad would put more American troops at risk to address a problem that is not a military problem. It will put more American soldiers in the crosshairs of sectarian violence, create more targets. I just don't believe this makes sense.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/10/sitroom.01.html
Sean's having Trump on his new show Sun night...I'll be watching 24
here comes Col Hunt
not good for Brownback, IMO
I just wrote him off
No not really, the rat's are just as hypocritical as always.
yes, considering even a month ago they were saying we need more troops....
they wanted Rummy gone, he's gone
they wanted new generals...they got them
they wanted more troops...they got them.....there is no making them happy whatever Bush does.....just fight this war and the hell with the rats.
Santorum is on Hugh Hewitt's show now
http://streamingradioguide.com/radio-shows-on-air.php
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.