WASHINGTON - (AP)Edited for opposing views President Bush's troop-boosting plan for Iraq was headed straight into a political gale in Congress, with Democrats, some Republicans and an increasingly organized anti-war movement arrayed against the buildup. Lawmakers were ready to pounce on the plan Thursday during a day of congressional hearings featuring top Bush administration officials such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Leaders of the Democratic-controlled Congress also were considering options for a nonbinding resolution,
Also Thursday, a coalition of labor, anti-war groups and liberal organizations planned to announce a multimillion-dollar advertising and grass-roots campaign against the commitment of extra troops.
Congressional Democrats and a handful of Republicans promptly criticized the plan as an ill-advised escalation that would further mire the United States in Iraq. Several noted that the president's strategy contradicted the advice of some of his generals.
Not to mention Ted Kennedy.
Gates will face a skeptical audience, particularly from new House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo. In a statement late Wednesday, Skelton dismissed Bush's plan as "three and a half years late and several hundred thousand troops short."
Looking to display party unity, House and Senate Democratic leaders issued a joint statement following the speech, asserting that Bush's plan places an increased burden on a stretched military and "endangers our national security."In an effort to isolate Bush and his war plan, Democrats planned to seek bipartisan
House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, chided Democrats for offering no alternative to Bush's plan. "If Democrat leaders don't support the president's plan," he said, "it's their responsibility to put forward a plan of their own for achieving victory."
Why would they do that now? They won the election without it.
While Republican House and Senate leaders stood with Bush on Wednesday, other Republican lawmakers bluntly rejected the president's strategy. Among those voicing opposition to the troop buildup were Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.
"This is a dangerously wrong-headed strategy that will drive America deeper into an unwinnable swamp at a great cost," said Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran and potential GOP presidential candidate.
Nothing is unwinnable, Chuck. Our enemies understand that.
Hagel is among the senators Rice will face when she testifies Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The committee is also a perch for a handful of potential Democratic presidential candidates, including Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and committee chairman Joseph Biden of Delaware.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, a longtime opponent of the war, said he feared Bush was setting the stage for a wider regional war. "Isn't one war enough for this president?" he said.