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 ...
Who better to voice the cut-n-run platform of his party.
Are the Demonrats going to have a "response" to all of the President's speeches from now on? What is this garbage?
Approprite indeed...and from the sounds of it he didn't hear a word that President Bush said. What an idiot.
From none other than Senator Turbin...who resides somewhere in the land of OZ.
Durbin whining about the 4th year of this conflict. I guess it's a good thing we didn't put a time limit on the Revolution.
Well, maybe they got the time on the cable news channels, but not on the networks. hehehe
Drudge has the trascript to the speech
Call me crazy but I still think they'll find the WMDs in Syria. But that's just me.
Arghhh, dispicable. How telling of the media to put Turbin Durbin up after the President's speech. Disgusting. Rally and support for the President, our troops and the WOT ..SHOULD BE THE DUTY OF ALL AMERICANS.
I couldn't take it. I had to turn him off. What did he say?
Durbin sure likes to say the word "we".
I don't understand how a major policy speech to the nation can get equal time but I am not listening!
And he's taking questions
You said it. "Redeployment" = RETREAT to the dems.
It's not the first time.
He's right...Pres. Bush will probably not run again after this term is up. ;o)
Sounded like good news to me. It is time to now show the world why we took Iraq in the first place. Bush has two years to complete the final phase of the war.
Dickie Durbin is saying that only Iraqis can now end the violence and that they can't dial '911' (no pun intended) for the USA to save their country now.
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.