 Democratic leaders on Thursday warned the Iraqi government was locked in a stalemate, as they jockeyed for position ahead of another Senate showdown over Iraq war funding. They also threatened Republicans with a rare weekend vote, after the start of the scheduled break for the Thanksgiving holiday, on a bill including troop withdrawal dates which cleared the House of Representatives Wednesday.
| Go ahead, that's a sure-fire way to get Republicans on your side. |
"Every place you go you hear about no progress being made in Iraq," said Senate Democratic majority leader Harry Reid. "The government is stalemated today, as it was six months ago, as it was two years ago," Reid told reporters, warning US soldiers were caught in the middle of a civil war.
| And who would know more about stalemated government than Harry Reid? |
"It is not getting better, it is getting worse," he said.
| Enough about the Congress alrready! |
Democrats are using perceived lack of reconciliation and political development by the Iraqi government to refute claims by Republicans that President George W. Bush's troop surge strategy has yielded concrete results.
| If Karl Rove were still around, he'd pull a rabbit out of his hat Monday morning with a 'major reconciliation pact' amongst the Iraqis. |
The Senate was expected to start work on the 50 billion dollar emergency war funding bill by Friday, though the measure is considered dead on arrival due to Republican opposition. President George W. Bush, who has repeatedly outmuscled Democrats attempting to tie his hands on the war, has threatened to veto the measure in the unlikely event it reaches his desk. |