Bush's Plan to Send More Troops to Iraq
Update: The latest Gallup/USA Today poll shows 61% of Americans oppose increased troop levels. Democrats, meanwhile, consider their options to the President's proposed plan to increase troop levels.
******Wednesday night, President Bush will address the nation with details of his new plan for Iraq. The plan calls for sending more troops to Iraq.
Think Progress is tracking congressional response to a plan that adds more troops.
....only seven lawmakers have given their public support to Bush’s escalation plan, twenty-three have come out in opposition, and fifteen have said they will withhold judgement for now.
Arianna has a scathing commentary on the plan.
When it comes to the White House's latest "new approach" to Iraq, we are definitely entering "the lunatics have taken over the asylum" territory.
....It's one thing to believe you're Napoleon. It's quite another to send more young people to die in your Waterloo.
Buzzflash notes that neocons have said a bigger surge than the one planned by Bush is necessary:
We need to cut through the confusion. Bringing security to Baghdad--the essential precondition for political compromise, national reconciliation and economic development--is possible only with a surge of at least 30,000 combat troops lasting 18 months or so. Any other option is likely to fail.
The answer, Buzzflash notes, is for Congress to pull the plug now.
As bad as the planned "surge" may be, the worst thing we can do would be to allow a compromised increase with fewer troops over less time than Bush is expected to announce.
The White House is betting public opinion will fall on the side of wanting a concrete plan for winning over immediate or even phased withdrawal.
I don't believe there is a military solution that can win the war in Iraq. I think Bush knows this and is simply trying to reverse the political tide against him.
He plans to redirect our attention by inundating us with intricate details of a confusing new plan for government in Iraq. As the Times reports,
The speech is expected to contain a series of goals for the Iraqi government. "This could be fairly complex, and it's going to take people a little bit of time to think it through, and we will spend a lot of time talking about it because it's important to do so," the White House press secretary, Tony Snow, said.
I think it's more important to talk about the escalating troop deaths and whether his plan can stop the senseless killing of innocent Iraqis.
Why not just bring the troops home and send some of the saved money to Iraq to help them get their new government off the ground? Because if they fail, then Bush will have failed. As Arianna notes, it appears he still harbors delusions of grandeur for his foolhardy war in Iraq.
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