 In a pre-State of the Union challenge to President Bush, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid intends to call Monday for the administration to outline an exit strategy for Iraq. Reid plans to raise the issue as part of back-to-back speeches in which he and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will sketch outline their differences with Bush on two issues likely to dominate Congress' work this year, the war on terror and Social Security. ``The president needs to spell out a real and understandable plan for the unfinished work ahead: defeat the growing insurgency, rebuild Iraq, increase political participation by all parties, especially moderates, and increase international involvement,'' Reid will say, according to his prepared remarks. ``Most of all we need an exit strategy so we know what victory is and how we can get there; so that we know what we need to do and so that we know when the job is done.''
| Bush keeps telling you, but he uses such simple words it flies right over your pointy heads: we'll leave when we're done and the new Iraqi government asks us to leave. |
Apart from Iraq, the Nevada senator's prepared remarks include a broader criticism of Bush's foreign policy, and accuse the president's actions of falling short of the words he used in his Inaugural Address earlier this month. ``There is a gap between saying to reformers that the `United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors,' and an administration that stands by in virtual silence as Saudi dissidents disappear,'' one portion of Reid's speech says.
| If you want to come out in favor of deposing the House of Saud, just say so. That would twitch the surprise meter. |
Bush is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress and a prime time nationwide television audience on Wednesday. While he is expected to discuss Iraq, and the national elections that were held on Sunday, he has signaled he intends to make Social Security a focus of his speech. |