1.09.2007
Democrats Vow to Resist Buildup (WashingtonPost.com)
Coming Iraq Plan to Meet Harsh Scrutiny
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 8, 2007; Page A04
Democratic congressional leaders vowed yesterday to use their powers of spending and policy oversight to challenge President Bush's expected proposal this week, as part of a broad revision of Iraq strategy, for boosting U.S. military forces in the country by as many as 20,000 troops.
Calling Iraq a nation in "complete chaos," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other Democrats cast the anticipated Bush plan as an escalation of the Iraq war that goes against the advice of senior U.S. commanders, rather than the significant change of course sought by American voters, and said that as a result they would treat the plan -- and new funding requests -- with strong skepticism.
"If the president wants to add to this mission, he's going to have to justify it," Pelosi said on CBS's "Face the Nation," emphasizing that while Congress will not cut off funding for troops now in Iraq, the White House will no longer have a "blank check" for expanding the war effort.
"When the bill comes . . . it will receive the harshest scrutiny," she said, referring to a new supplemental spending request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that is expected to surpass $100 billion. Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than $500 billion has been spent on the wars and counterterrorism-related expenditures around the world, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The extra troops are only one part of the package Bush is expected to present to the nation as early as Wednesday. Proposals for economic development and the setting of political benchmarks for Baghdad, leading to the formation of a national reconciliation government, are also expected from Bush's prime-time speech, although final details were being ironed out over the weekend.
(More ... Washington Post > Politics)
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 8, 2007; Page A04
Democratic congressional leaders vowed yesterday to use their powers of spending and policy oversight to challenge President Bush's expected proposal this week, as part of a broad revision of Iraq strategy, for boosting U.S. military forces in the country by as many as 20,000 troops.
Calling Iraq a nation in "complete chaos," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other Democrats cast the anticipated Bush plan as an escalation of the Iraq war that goes against the advice of senior U.S. commanders, rather than the significant change of course sought by American voters, and said that as a result they would treat the plan -- and new funding requests -- with strong skepticism.
"If the president wants to add to this mission, he's going to have to justify it," Pelosi said on CBS's "Face the Nation," emphasizing that while Congress will not cut off funding for troops now in Iraq, the White House will no longer have a "blank check" for expanding the war effort.
"When the bill comes . . . it will receive the harshest scrutiny," she said, referring to a new supplemental spending request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that is expected to surpass $100 billion. Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than $500 billion has been spent on the wars and counterterrorism-related expenditures around the world, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The extra troops are only one part of the package Bush is expected to present to the nation as early as Wednesday. Proposals for economic development and the setting of political benchmarks for Baghdad, leading to the formation of a national reconciliation government, are also expected from Bush's prime-time speech, although final details were being ironed out over the weekend.
(More ... Washington Post > Politics)
Labels: Iraq, Washington Post
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