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| Lawmakers Call On Bush to Announce Plan For US Withdrawal From Iraq | |||
| 2005-09-30 | |||
| President Bush's latest statements about U.S. military strategy against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq have provoked more debate between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and others about the best course for the United States. President Bush warned Wednesday that there may be an upsurge of violence in the weeks before a referendum in Iraq on a new constitution, but added, "Our troops are ready for it." The president and members of his administration sought to reinforce their main message that the United States will not draw down its forces, and will continue building Iraq's military and police in the battle against insurgents. U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top military commanders, have been on Capitol Hill over the past week briefing lawmakers as part of the administration effort to raise the level of confidence about the direction of the Iraq effort. White House spokesman Scott McClellan says the president wants to make sure that Congress understands the stakes in Iraq: "I think Congress understands the importance of succeeding in Iraq," Mr. McClellan says. "They have shown a strong commitment to what we are working to achieve there, and the President is greatly appreciative of that. It's also important to keep members of Congress informed about what our strategy is and how we are adapting to defeat the enemy. However, the president faces continuing criticism from congressional Democrats who assert there is no clear plan for prevailing in Iraq, or getting out. A small number of Republicans have joined Democrats supporting a bipartisan resolution calling on the president to announce a plan for beginning the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.
Supporters of the resolution have managed to gather backing from only about 60 House members, most of them Democrats. However, they were joined at a Capitol Hill news conference by retired Lieutenant General William Odom, a former director of the National Security Agency. He asserts that a continuing, long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq, with no specific timetable for withdrawal, prevents the United States from getting the support it will need from others to address broader security concerns: "We need a broad coalition of Europeans and our allies in Asia to put things in order from the eastern Mediterranean to the eastern borders of Afghanistan," Mr. Odom says. " We need a lot of strong countries on our side. We cannot do that as long as we are in Iraq. The precondition for a serious and effective strategic engagement to stabilize this region requires withdrawal and admittance to others that we may have made an error.
In remarks on the floor of the House, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, a strong supporter of Mr. Bush, had this reaction to British Prime Minister Tony Blair who reiterated his government's commitment to Iraq: "Although some war cynics continue to call for a retreat and defeat policy [in Iraq], Prime Minister Tony Blair has proven that he is committed to finishing the mission in Iraq," Mr. Wilson says. The bipartisan resolution being pushed by Democrats, with a few Republicans on board | |||
| Posted by:Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World |
| #22 Oh yeah, the Lefties want SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH, Capitalist Federalist Republic = Socialist America to have a female POTUS or female POTUS-VPOTUS so bad they're willing to let the Japs bomb Pearl Harbor again, and risk new 9-11 ags America. Why, its worth 100K to 100M dead and wounded so that another Clinton whom happens to be a Woman, "W-O-M-A-N, I'll say it again" [song], can make history - iff eight years of Bill Clinton Rightism-Republicanism absolutely, undeniably and unconditionally justified Leftism-Socialism once, before, and forever, eight years of Hillary's FASCISM = COMMUNISM = FEDERALISM =......... will surely justify once, tomorrow, and forever. I DEMAND THAT TRUE PRESIDENTS GORE-KERRY-DEAN CALL IN UNO "PEACE-KEEPING" FORCES TO SAVE MOTHER SHEEHAN AND "OCCUPIED" NOLA FROM REPUBLICAN INVADERS, D*** YOU. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2005-09-30 23:32 |
| #21 You're bound to have a small percentage of spineless fools in the House. The donk senators (Clinton, Kerry, et al) will stay the course --while carping about execution -- because they don't want to look too stupid after the troops are drawn down (within two years) and victory is declared. Iraq is a huge victory in the WoT |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-09-30 23:26 |
| #20 GW: "Hel-lo? I don't take orders from fucking Congress! Feel free to fuck off at any time..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-09-30 22:38 |
| #19 Poll: Most Americans Not In Iraq by Scott Ott (2005-09-23) -- Hours after a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll revealed that fewer than half of respondents believe the U.S. can win the war in Iraq, a second survey showed that more than 99 percent of Americans are not in Iraq, and almost as many form opinions about the war based exclusively on what they learn from CNN, USA Today and other news organizations. Of the 818 Americans telephoned by pollsters, according to an unnamed Gallup spokesman, roughly zero percent are currently stationed in Iraq, where about 150,000 U.S. troops spend their days providing security, hunting down terrorists, training Iraqi police and soldiers and rebuilding schools, water systems and other infrastructure elements. Almost 97 percent of those surveyed answered "strongly agree" to the statement: "Every single thing I know about U.S. efforts in Iraq, I learned from news reports in the mainstream media." Of those people, the vast majority said they believe U.S. troops spend their days "driving around in Humvees, trying to detonate improvised explosive devices with their tires." A unnamed CNN reporter, stationed in a Green Zone hotel lounge in Baghdad, said the new surveys "simply reinforce what I've known for two years -- the war in Iraq is unwinnable. For some reason, America seems to have lost her will to fight for freedom." http://www.scrappleface.com/ |
| Posted by: doc 2005-09-30 14:10 |
| #18 Was I here a minute ago? |
| Posted by: Helen 2005-09-30 13:34 |
| #17 Lawmakers Call on Bush to Announce... Low Carb Diets Are Manditory... All Poodles Are to be Dyed Blue... On Half of Sets of Twins are sent to nunnery... (GWB won't go for this) All Ciries must be reconstructed BELOW sea Level...(Affirmitive Action Requirement) A lot of Calling on by Radish IQ'd Legislators... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-09-30 13:02 |
| #16 Somebody care to inform Congressman Jones that Iraq is not Kosovo? Foreign Policy Studies at the CATO Institute? That's like Healthy Lifestyles Studies at the Hemlock Society. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-09-30 12:18 |
| #15 Yeah, well keep it to yourself lady, all right? Yeeeeeeeesh! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-09-30 12:02 |
| #14 abu au natural, actually I'm quite free and sensuous. |
| Posted by: Helen Tomas 2005-09-30 11:58 |
| #13 Disbanding 90% of our military would please them greatly, plainslow. Or at least crippling our ability to use the military in any effective way. lotp, doncha know that our military should only be used to evacuate American cities after hurricanes? And they'd better be johnny on the spot at that, too. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2005-09-30 11:13 |
| #12 I'm calling for an immediate RB ban on Helen Thomas naked references...for the love of GOD! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-09-30 11:11 |
| #11 This same group of 60 also want the Boxing Commission to add a rule that boxers must announce each punch prior to throwing it. While they admitted the whole "mouthguard" thing would potentially make those announcments difficult, they nevertheless felt that giving the opposing boxer time to duck was an important goal! |
| Posted by: Justrand 2005-09-30 11:10 |
| #10 President Bush's latest statements about U.S. military strategy against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq have provoked more debate between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and others about the best course for the United States. [...] A small number of Republicans have joined Democrats supporting a bipartisan resolution calling on the president to announce a plan for beginning the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. Apparently, none of these people seem to have any strategic vision themselves. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-09-30 10:55 |
| #9 "That is all we are doing with this bipartisan resolution, Republican and Democrat. We are saying to the president, we are asking you to do the same thing that you asked President Clinton to do in 1999," Mr. Jones says. And if he pays no friggin attention to you, like Clinton did in 99, will that piss you off? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-09-30 10:14 |
| #8 Disbanding 90% of our military would please them greatly, plainslow. Or at least crippling our ability to use the military in any effective way. |
| Posted by: lotp 2005-09-30 09:57 |
| #7 Exactly what is these people are trying to accomplish. If we withdrawl to early in this one, we might as well disband 90% of the military (we need the other 10% for natural disaters apparentley), because if you never fight, you don't need it, and just go completley nuclear. Then when someone pisses us off, nuke em. Won't have to fight the MSM and the Left wing nuts through the course of any battles. |
| Posted by: plainslow 2005-09-30 09:48 |
#6 From the Wiki on Jones:An executive with his family's lighting company, Jones was elected as a Democrat to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1983 and served for five terms, until 1992. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Congressional nomination for his father's seat in the 103rd United States Congress of 1992 (losing to Eva Clayton) before switching parties and winning in the 3rd district in the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, defeating incumbent Democrat H. Martin Lancaster. Jones has been reelected every two years since. He has never faced a serious or well-funded opponent, largely because his father was a legend in Eastern North Carolina. He's a nobody with a career less impressive than my own, very unimpressive hack of a Congressman, John Peterson (Fifth PA, so forgettable I had to google his first name). I'm amused that Jones was the only Republican they could get to support the motion publically. I wonder if there are any others, or if Jones is the whole and total of this "bipartisan" effort's Republican element. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2005-09-30 09:33 |
| #5 "Over my dead body". And for those out there who think about that line as an invitation, go read William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. None of the opposition made it to the end alive. |
| Posted by: Hupinemble Thomoger2928 2005-09-30 09:27 |
| #4 Even if they were six instead of 60 they (and the academic morons who asked for nagotiating with Al Q) are still sending a signal to Zarkawi and Osama that they are winning |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-09-30 08:43 |
| #3 Jeez ed, now I wish I could poke out my minds eye,thanks for the visual. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2005-09-30 07:09 |
| #2 Only 60 of 435 House members? You could get more support for a resolution to have Helen Thomas strip naked and commit seppuku on the steps of the Capitol building. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-09-30 06:58 |
| #1 Mao said :"Victory belongs tothe one who is able to suffer a quarter hour longer". If you publish a schedule of how long you are wanting to suffer it only encourages the bad guy to hold until then even if he is suffering far much than you. And the bad guy wins. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-09-30 06:53 |