Bush Still Calls Shots on War, for Now

[cal04]

Call President Bush a lame duck, a weakened leader, a disappointed president whose party lost control of Congress _ and the decider when it comes to a new approach in Iraq. After all the studies and recommendations and talk, the president will call the shots.

Members of Congress can complain and investigate, yet there is little they can do to change Iraq policy short of cutting off funds. Regardless of Bush's diminished state, the ball is in his court. While Congress can declare war, the president, after all, is the one who moves troops.

(snip)
"He can still play the `I'm the decider' role a little longer. But at some point, if the policy still fails, he becomes irrelevant _ even though he's still commander in chief," said Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution.

"Because then the presidential race for 2008 becomes about how to get the heck out of Iraq. And the Democratic Congress may cut off funding. Even though they're not going to do it now, they may do it in a year," O'Hanlon said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/09/ap/politics/mainD8LTFVO01.shtml

[AlinPA]

1. That's B.S. Rove calls all shots, not Bush**.