Bush to send 30,000 more troops to Iraq

[Roon]

breaking on www.abcnews.com

[jgraz]

1. Seriously, what can be done to stop this madman?

I'm starting to wonder if we can afford to wait for the 110th congress.

[rodeodance]

5. the strategy of the Dems--to put the war in Bush's court and let him deal

with it----i am NOT for this plan. it may have worked ealier but if this if for Real--then now is the time for the Dems to start SHOUTING

[jgraz]

7. Yep -- and how many G.I.s die while they play politics?

I'm almost more disgusted with the Dems. At least they've shown they have a brain and a conscience, yet they still do next to nothing.

[CANDO]

41. They haven't seated the new Congress just yet.

When they do nothing after they take over, then I'll be pissed!

[jgraz]

50. They could come out right now and say they're going to refuse to fund it.

At least that would generate some debate about this insanity.

[Joe Bacon]

81. AND WHEN IS GEORGE P BUSH GOING TO IRAQ?

When is that chicken enlisting?

[0007]

90. .....when his sister, Noelle, stops doing drugs



[paulk]

96. Bush is the CIC

at this point - before the new Congress even takes office - there's not much more that they can do other than "play politics".

[Morgana LaFey]

29. might be okay were it not for the deaths and maimings that will

go on in the interim

[earthside]

27. This is what will happen ...

... if you take impeachment and cutting deployment funds "off the table."

Democrats in Washington better grow that backbone pretty fast or there are going to be a lot more dead U.S. troops and Iraqis.

[Normvan]

77. Backbones ?

There not even sworn in yet !

[screembloodymurder]

62. 5,000,000 people in DC will stop this SOB

When's the next protest?

[diamidue]

80. How many million were in the streets

BEFORE the war and how did that work out?

If we were able to gather 5 million people in Washington, overtake the White House, and escort Bush & Cheney out the door, THEN and only then, would anything come of a protest march.

[coalition_unwilling]

98. When you start to see the KIA ratio of officer to enlisted start to

creep up (right now, I think it's about 1 officer KIA for every 15 enlisted), then you can rightly suspect that military discipline has started to break down completely and fraggings have begun. That will stop the madman.

[valerief]

2. It's time for Send the Twins protests. I wonder if we'll get microwaved. nt

[saigon68]

14. Send this little wimp ------Piece Bush----- Neal's spawn

[valerief]

18. Oh, yes. I saw him a while back doing his pro-war babbling on

some talk show. What a nitwit. Couldn't speak, just like his uncle. How do these idiots think that viewers will swallow their crap without wondering why HE'S not in Iraq?
:shrug:

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

74. that picture can't be real!

please tell me that is photoshop - he looks like the cover of mad magazine!

[treestar]

88. Man, you can really see the family resemblence there!

This chimp looks like he's being groomed for the next generation of the BFEE dynasty.

:rofl:

[trogdor]

92. Yep. The glazed look in his eyes...

...the "what, me worry?" grin - yep, that's a Bush, all right.

[dysfunctional press]

3. he's determined to get the U.S. casualty number over 3,000 by new years...

this thing is gonna get A WHOLE LOT uglier.

[xultar]

4. Not nearly enough to do any fucking thing. Just a waste of lives on both sides.

[rodeodance]

6. PRESIDENT BUSH LIKELY TO SEND A SURGE OF MORE THAN 30,000

PRESIDENT BUSH LIKELY TO SEND A SURGE OF MORE THAN 30,000 ADDITIONAL U.S. TROOPS TO IRAQ, ABC NEWS HAS LEARNED

[valerief]

22. And a great many from this SURGE will need SURGERY soon

after they arrive in Iraq.
:crazy:

[badgerpup]

49. I have this burning question...

:wtf:
Where the hell is he going to GET 30,000 additional troops?
They're having to do 'stop loss' and extended and repeated deployments...and they're sending back soldiers that are injured and not fully recovered and may never be.
Where the hell are the 30,000 pieces of fresh cannon fodder new ones going to come from...and why aren't they in action already?
:banghead::cry:

[cassiepriam]

71. I wondered the same thing. Where are these troops coming from??

[uppityperson]

8. More of the same, except MORE.

damn you Mr.bush

[Gregorian]

9. Double down, dummy.

Or

Everyone But Bush.


For a religious man, he must either have a contract with Satan, or be very very worried.

[rodeodance]

39. dummy being the operative term

[uppityperson]

10. US studies options for increasing troops in Iraq: report

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/us-studies-options-for-increasing-troops-in-iraq-report/2006/12/17/1166162368947.html

Military planners and White House budget analysts have been asked to provide President George Bush with options for increasing American forces in Iraq by 20,000 troops or more, The New York Times reported.

Citing unnamed senior Administration officials, the newspaper said the request indicates that the option of a major "surge" in troop strength is gaining ground as part of a White House strategy review.

Discussion of increasing the number of American troops has gone on in Washington for two months as a possible way to reverse the deteriorating security situation in Baghdad, the report said. But the decision to ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff to specify where the additional forces could be found signifies a turn in the debate, according to the newspaper.

Officials said that the options being considered included the deployment of upwards of 50,000 additional troops, but that the political, training and recruiting obstacles to an increase larger than 20,000 to 30,000 troops would be prohibitive, the paper said.(more@link)

[rolleitreks]

11. "Though it isn't really war/He's sending 50,000 more/

To help save Vietnam/From the Vietnamese"

-- From Tom Paxton's "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation"

[Strelnikov_]

16. A Classic

I got a letter from L. B. J.
It said this is your lucky day.
It's time to put your khaki trousers on.
Though it may seem very queer
We've got no jobs to give you here
So we are sending you to Viet Nam

{Chorus:}
Lyndon Johnson told the nation,
"Have no fear of escalation.
I am trying everyone to please.
Though it isn't really war,
We're sending fifty thousand more,
To help save Viet nam from Viet Namese."

I jumped off the old troop ship,
And sank in mud up to my hips.
I cussed until the captain called me down.
Never mind how hard it's raining,
Think of all the ground we're gaining,
Just don't take one step outside of town.

{Cho:}

Every night the local gentry,
Sneak out past the sleeping sentry.
They go to join the old VC.
In their nightly little dramas,
They put on their black pajamas,
And come lobbing mortar shells at me.

{Cho:}

We go round in helicopters,
Like a bunch of big grasshoppers,
Searching for the Viet Cong in vain.
They left a note that they had gone.
They had to get down to Saigon,
Their government positions to maintain.

{Cho:}

Well here I sit in this rice paddy,
Wondering about Big Daddy,
And I know that Lyndon loves me so.
Yet how sadly I remember,
Way back yonder in November,
When he said I'd never have to go.

{Cho:}

[latebloomer]

25. Great song!

So many of the old ones fit so well nowadays-- what about Seeger's song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy"?


It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.

We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.

Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!

Words and music by Pete Seeger (1967)

[CountAllVotes]

26. If my memory serves me well

It was after this that Johnson began to tank and tank badly.

If chimpface does this (which he is determined to do) he'll be in the low teens before long.

When the word DRAFT becomes a reality, then the sheep will awaken, especially when it is THEIR KID that receives the letter that says on it "Uncle Sam Wants YOU"!

It is truly a shame that this is how bad it must get before people say enough is enough. :mad: and :( too.

:dem:

[IndianaGreen]

64. Westmoreland asked for 100,000 more troops in the aftermath of Tet Offensive

Clark Clifford talked President Johnson from further escalation of the war in Vietnam, and got him to seek a negotiated settlement.

There is no one around Bush with the stature of a Clark Clifford. Bush has no one that will tell him the war is lost, and get away with it.

[coalition_unwilling]

99. Westmoreland actually had requests for another 206,000 more troops

pending in the wake of Tet '68 (although to this day, Westmoreland insists that the requests were already in the pipeline).

[Leftisalwaysright]

12. Wow!

I really think he sees himself as God like, and his decisions are right and should be judged as so, with no questions asked.

[rodeodance]

13. anything on Cable about this?

[FormerDittoHead]

15. Maybe we should re-think this whole "President" thing...

I mean, if it comes down to allowing a single person this much power to do so much against the will of the vast majority of whom he "represents", what kind of system IS this???

I would challenge anyone to answer that question with, "One that works" or "It's worked well so far" as this is PROOF it has NOT.

There is something SERIOUSLY wrong with our government, and I would support efforts to make changes which would render powerless a single person to unilaterally make such huge (BAD) decisions.

[tblue37]

28. The "unitary executive" is not a president--

it is a dictator.

[rodeodance]

31. but you will agree that our democracy HAS changed this last few years. IT

has worked in the past.

[FormerDittoHead]

33. Agreed, it has changed. n/t

[qwlauren35]

87. He doesn't have that much power...

except when it is uncurtailed by the balancing branches. And right now, it is NOT being curtailed.

Also, keep in mind how many of the people around him are not challenging his policies. You don't see Cheney publicly jumping up and down and saying retreat. If he was, we'd be outta there. Rice won't say it either. Gates has just been sworn in. If he says it immediately, there's hope.

I can't help but wonder why there is anyone left supporting this fiasco, but somehow, Bush sniffs them out and puts them in his cabinet.

[treestar]

89. Because the President cannot have his hands tied when he is trying

to use the tools he needs to protect us.

:sarcasm:

[coalition_unwilling]

100. Hey, America, you've been punked! - n/t

[rodeodance]

17. Richardson Takes On McCain: Denounces Plan To Send More Troops To Iraq...

Richardson Takes On McCain: Denounces Plan To Send More Troops To Iraq...

CNN | Mark Preston | December 16, 2006 03:09 PM

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will denounce Sen. John McCain's, R-Arizona, suggestion that more U.S. troops are needed in Iraq when he appears Saturday at a New Hampshire Democratic Party event, his campaign said.

Richardson is actively exploring a run for the Democratic presidential nomination, while McCain is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination. Richardson and McCain have said they will announce their plans early in the coming year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

[screenplaya]

19. More sitting ducks for the lame duck president

He's the pictureboy of insanity......doing the same thing over and over again. Can the next President name George Bush Ambassador to Iraq for life? How can we really send more guys when the secret is out? Won't they just be sitting ducks for this lame duck?

[leftchick]

20. any guesses as to where this "Surge Plan" came from?

our good neo-con friends at AEI, still planning our foreign policy in 2006.....

http://www.juancole.com/

The "surge" tactic is being generated by Rupert Murdoch's Weekly Standard and by Frederick W. Kagan and Bill Kristol, i.e. by the same plutocratic American Enterprise Institute (Likudnik Central) that brought you the Iraq War with champagne toasts in the first place.

Kagan has a recent book on Napoleon. Napoleon's most prominent characteristic was his willingness to waste his troops' lives lightly. On his return from Palestine in 1799, he even had some poisoned because they were ill with plague and he did not want to risk transporting them back to his HQ in Cairo. He took 54,000 men to Egypt in 1798; about half came back. His Russia campaign saw a similar dynamic, on a much larger scale.

Bush is the Napoleon of our age, trampling on whole peoples, a Jacobin Emperor mouthing the slogans of liberty and popular sovereignty while crushing and looting those he "liberated." And Kagan and Kristol (playing Talleyrand 1798) and Emperor Bush are readying a further slaughter of our US troops, 24,000 of whom have been killed or wounded, and of innocent Iraqis, 600,000 of whom have been killed by criminal and political violence since spring of 2003.

And you thought a mere election would make a difference. No one had to elect the American Enterprise Institute. No one needs to crown the emperor, he can do it himself. Welcome to Year 1 of the Empire.

[valerief]

24. It's because so many of the war wounded need SURGEry. nt

[JanusAscending]

69. not funny the second time either....

[valerief]

78. I wasn't trying to be funny. Not the sharpest tack in the box, huh? nt

[JanusAscending]

79. Might not be the "sharpest tack in the box"

but this tack knows the difference between sarcasm,as in sarcastic humor, and puns, as in the LOWEST form of humor. I find no humor in using our soldiers, who are sacrificing their lives, for these idiots at DOD with your "surgical" type of humor. Oh, and by the way I didn't insult you personally, as you did me. Just your humor,or lack thereof!!! Thank you very much!!!

[valerief]

93. I'll restate this once again. I was not being humorous. And you

passed judgment on me with your comment.

[leesa]

21. Madness.

[Gregorian]

23. I wonder what the Saudis told Dick.

Your kingdom for an oil well. Get that oil, Dick. Or else.

[lovuian]

30. The situation is chaos and even more men is not

going to help even 30,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to what they really need
They don't have the money

[lisby]

32. Do we have that many left?

What--are they gonna send the 60 and 70 year olds, too?

LISBY

[rodeodance]

34. there is still no story on abc

[Jack Rabbit]

35. Impeach them all

It's the only thing that will save us from this madness.

[Tom Joad]

36. We must be out on the streets to fight this...

massive street action, organized civil disobedience. this must not be allowed to happen.

[Tom Joad]

37. Any Dem officeholder who supports such a move, no matter how

often they say "temporary" should be hounded out of office.
Republicans too, of course, but that's a given.

[rodeodance]

38. makes you wonder if we had Nov elections!!

[Warren Stupidity]

56. Exactly. This is a thumb in the eye of democracy.

It is them telling us, the people, with whom sovereignty is supposed to rest, to fuck off. It is beyond arrogance.

[Clarkie1]

40. There is likely to be a short-term decrease in violence as a result of this.

But IT WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. We need to be ready for Bush taking credit if violence decreases in the short-term. The best way to do that is Clark's way...acknowledging it is likely to decrease violence short-term but is not and cannot be a permanent solution to a POLITICAL problem.


12/14/06 NPR

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think, I think first of all, it's a temporary measure. Secondly, I think you'll probably get some results on the ground.

Diane Rehm: What would it accomplish?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think you'll get more patrols on the streets of Baghdad. I think you'll get more snipers on rooftops. I think you'll get more roadblocks. I think it'll be more difficult for militias to move. I think you'll be able to occupy certain areas for longer without having to pull the troops back. In other words, I think you'll get some marginal military advantages. If the major problem is political not military, the question is: What is the President going to do to gain the political initiative? He's met with Maliki. He's met with Hakim. He's now meeting with the Sunni leader. What's going to emerge from that? Is there going to be a political strategic consensus? That's what's going to determine our success or failure in Iraq.

http://securingamerica.com/node/2030

[rodeodance]

42. abc has taken down the REd alert banner--and I do NOT see a story

[rodeodance]

43. oops. sorry, NOw I see the story LINK here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/IraqCoverage/story?id=2731720

[rodeodance]

44. The White House insists that no decisions have yet been made.......

Dec. 16, 2006 — President Bush is likely to support a plan for a "surge" of additional U.S. troops to Iraq, officials close to the process told ABC News.

The surge could involve more than 30,000 additional troops and last as long as two years, sources say. That could bring the total number of troops in Iraq to at least 164,000 — the highest total yet.

The White House insists that no decisions have yet been made, and that the president continues to weigh his options.

Such a plan for more troops likely would be an attempt to stabilize Baghdad and Anbar province in western Iraq — a last-ditch attempt to stabilize the heart of Iraq.

[Clarkie1]

45. Well, frankly that sounds to me like when they kept saying "no decision has been made"

before announcing the invasion, when in reality they had already made the decision.

[NJCher]

46. numerous media sources have cited

A situation before where a substantial number of troops were sent in. The various commentators have remarked that violence worsened.

More troops is not the solution but bush is a blockhead, thinks in simple terms, and will probably try to send them unless he is somehow stopped.



Cher

[Gregorian]

47. 30k troops, 70 million Iranians. There is no long term plan.

Bush is out of his mind. Ultimately this will only worsen the situation. It's hard to watch. And if things get out of hand, and Iran gets involved, we're faced with huge numbers of soldiers.

I don't know anything. I'm sitting at a keyboard. But common sense says you don't keep doing what hasn't worked yet. All while going in debt.

[gasperc]

91. there stalling for another big terror strike or something

something so that they can do a disgustingly massive bombing campaign leveraging people's anger over a terror attack and then pull out.

Either that or any NOT-Democrat plan, increasing the troops is definately not a Democrat idea and Bush is loathe to embrace anything Democrats came up with.

[rodeodance]

48. See Wes Clark comments on this here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2931271

[judaspriestess]

51. All Americans should start shouting not just congress

I'm not including the stupid fools that follow this wannabe anti-christ in our protest

[Lochloosa]

52. 1965 all over again

[LynnTheDem]

53. Vietnam II.

Only worse.

[Warren Stupidity]

54. Not confirmed yet - this is being floated as a trial balloon.

To see what the reaction will be. Here is what the reaction should be: massive civil disobedience. We just got finished voting for an end to this war and the arrogant idiot in the white house has deciderated to escalate the war instead. If this becomes real we need to get real.

[gulfcoastliberal]

55. xpost: Myabe the new congress can stop this...

We ran on ending the war. Not sending in more troops and escalating the conflict. Perhaps I'm being premature - but if we don't act quickly and decisively to end the war, we deserve to lose come '08.

[nealmhughes]

57. If this happens, I move for a 2 day general strike. Any seconds?

[Warren Stupidity]

58. It would be a clear violation of the social contract

between the people and their elected representatives. Yes indeed, such a move would require massive civil disobedience in response.

[ctaylor721a]

59. Focus on Persuading Senators

I sincerely believe Bush is a lost cause. But the cause is not lost. If enough R senators like Gordon Smith come out against the President, he may just reconsider. Thats why I think we need to start corresponding with senators, esp. republicans, to stop this war. I don't know if it'll work, but I know its more useful than trying to steer Bush.

[rodeodance]

66. YES, we need to all write our senators---Repug and Dem alike

[mogster]

60. Why a new Vietnam, why not a new Woodstock instead

Knucklehead

[BR_Parkway]

61. You stupid motherfucker, go read this - and maybe understand, these

are real lives you're playing with, to salvage your own stupid ego.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x251813

I've decided, you're worse than Hitler. Hitler thought that one race should rule the world and that he was in charge of making that happen. You care for nothing but yourself, how history is going to think of you and what the books will say. You vain, self centered motherfucker. I want to see you in a prison cell for everything you've caused and created. The dogshit stuck in my shoe is better for this world than you are. I want you to live a long and healthy life, I'd like you to make the Guiness book of records as the oldest human being ever - but I want you to do it from behind bars, in a miserable cell, the next 60 years or more, never breathing free air again.

And I hope when they lock you up, they wallpaper that cell with the face, name and short bio of every single human being that you've killed so you could be the macho little "war president". I want you to face it every single day of the rest of your life. Reading about these people, who they were and what they did and what they thought and how they spent their short lives trying to make this world a better place. Not like you in the least bit. You, the vainglorious motherfucker who brags to reporters about how well you sleep at night.

I want you in a cell, only getting just enough sleep so that your mind doesn't fully crack - because I want you to be haunted by these people that you've killed every minute of every hour of every day of every year of the rest of your miserable life.

Why you couldn't have been part of the slime running down Barbara's ass crack is beyond me, but how much better almost all of the world would be if you had been

[Disturbed]

65. The RWing plan is to force the Dems to cut the funds and

blame the loss of Iraq on them. The RWing is clever at putting Dems into a no win box. The Dems won't cut the funds and 30K Troops will slaughter thousands of Iraqis in the Sunni Triangle and take on the al Sadr Mahdi Army, as well. This will be a bloodbath that Busholini will relish. He is a sadistic Sociopath that enjoys killing, as long as he and his family aren't in the line of fire.

[Nutmegger]

63. I hope the Dems do something

I hope they come up with a plan, because, face it, that's one of the reasons why they were elected: To come up with a plan for Iraq. Even if they draft something and Bush Inc vetoes it, at least it shows that they tried.

[RummyTheDummy]

67. Tactically this is totally pointless

They need to either shit or get off the pot. Either drop about 300,000 more in there or get the F out. Since we don't have 300,000 more, it's probably a good idea to get out.

And how exactly does this show the Iraqi's how to handle their own security issues (that we created in the first place)?

[lpbk2713]

68. Is there 30,000 troops left yet to send?

Many have been there for three tours or more.

I suppose he could possibly mean more Air Force and Navy personnel in country to augment positions held by Army and Marines.

There's no doubt in my mind this asshole will go down in the history books as the worst president ever. He already has the stats to prove it.

[Warren Stupidity]

70. Yes we have the troops.

They are held back pending the assault on Iran.

[pokercat999]

72. Mistake in title and text. I have found a mistake in the story

you MUST substitute the word "targets" for "Troops" for the story to be correct.

[truthisfreedom]

76. Corrected title: "Bush to send every last member of military to Iraq"

I knew he was going to do this.

Any member of congress who supports this madness is going to be tainted by association and will lose support in the double-digits (McCain already has!)

[BenDavid]

73. Oh help me L-rd! Arm chair

Generals calling the shots. What we have in Iraq is one big, "CUSTERFUCK" Not cluster, but CUSTER....Too many Generals....

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

75. If true, McCain is fucked big time.

This is his plan.
It won't work.
Therefore, McCain will look like a fool in '08.

At least something good will come out of it.

[knight_of_the_star]

83. Such a shame it comes at such a cost

I wish he could be proven wrong without having to send more good people into the meat grinder.

[Larry in KC]

97. I wonder if McCain's political gamble has just busted?

I've been thinking for a while now that McCain might be taking a shrewd political gamble.

Iraq is ugly and it's going to stay ugly. It will be ugly regardless of who demands U.S. pullouts the loudest, or when or in what fashion they happen.

The dominant foreign-policy storyline of 2008 could be "who lost Iraq?," because if we pull out and things continue to unravel, the question may well be who forced the pullout that led to greater debacle. Then McCain, whose call for a troop surge was ignored, could be pointed to as the one pragmatist whose courageous (and unpopular) message should have been listened to.

He may have thought that in this climate, there's no way his idea would be tried. So, he'd remain that lone voice crying in the wilderness, without any nasty proof that his idea would have failed, too. Now, if they DO try this idea that has become associated with him, and if it plays out badly (as most of us here think it will), he loses his gamble. He becomes seriously damaged goods.

Yes, it could come at a very high price, but my view is still that it's terribly important not to have a Republican in the White House again in 2009, and McCain is the only one of them who could win this time, if we play our cards even halfway decently. He may have done real harm to that prospect.

Unless, my tin-foil hat prompts me to mention, this trial balloon will be withdrawn for his benefit.

[knight_of_the_star]

82. Oh Gods

That's a lot of friends of mine that are going, they can still get called up and pulled back into the sandbox. We need to stop this madman before he does more harm than he already has.

[rollopollo]

84. Any opinion on Reid's comments

That Dems are willing to support the increase in troops for a few months, possibly upto 18 months? The only reason I can imagine why they'd do something like that is expect things to go worse, and then thump the GOP in 2008. Or in other words, to let Bush take the GOP off the cliff.

[dos pelos]

85. One votes in the hope it will change things,however....

It has not.The war continues.Bush interprets voter dissatisfaction as a need to turn up the volume on an already failing plan and the Democratic leadership,(good Quislings all),goes along.The will of the people be damned.The problem is greater than a bad President.There is a failure of the Democratic leadership.Vividly displayed in Mr. Reid.These are the same people who voted for the war,voted for the Bankruptcy Bill,voted for The Military Commissions Act.Worthless corporate whores.A legion of Lieberman clones,republicrats supporting the same corporate blood- for- oil agenda.The greater the betrayal of ideals and principle on the part of the Democratic "leadership",the more likely the success of third party candidates speaking to the frustration of voters turned off by this spinelessness.

[rollopollo]

102. What do you think is the answer?

What would bring about change?

Would it be puttting pressure on Democrats? Having PAC's that promote peace, not war? Or are you saying that a third party is the best option either for peace or to drive the message home to Democrats? Or something else?

[NJCher]

86. I have no trouble believing that

They are enablers par excellence.

Damn, this makes me sick. The American people voted them in because they wanted a change in policy. And now--to turn their backs on that vote? How absolutely, incredibly stupid. He must be living in a vacuum Washington, D.C.



Cher

[rollopollo]

101. I wonder

...whether this might be a result of organizations that influence both parties and make their policies virtually identical in certain areas such as foreign policy. I recognize the need for the country to speak with one voice on foreign policy, but that is after we choose what course of action we want to pursue. And we still can make the choice to withdraw from Iraq.

I don't want to wade into conspiracy, but I've been told the Council for Foreign Relations is one of these organizations and perhaps the reason we a startling lack of debate on Iraq.

[Rex]

94. Dumb dumb dumb, dumb dumb dumb

Dumbya. Stupider man, there never lived! It's either all or nothing, fool. 30,000 is a political gesture that will get your ass handed to you. On a silver platter. Again. Dumb.

[JPZenger]

95. I couldn't find anything on ABC News Website

I couldn't find anything about this story on the ABC News website. Maybe it was a teaser that was pulled until they could verify the story.

Bush was all ready to announce his new "plan" for Iraq - until the Saudi leaders told him not to. That was when the Plan was delayed to "some time" after the New Year.