Pelosi Says Rallying Votes for Troop Surge in Afghanistan Will be Obama's Job

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Source: Washington Post

President Obama will have to argue his own case to House Democrats as he seeks support for a planned surge of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday, adding that she is finished asking her colleagues to back wars that they do not support.

"The president's going to have to make his case," Pelosi told reporters at a year-end briefing on the legislative session.

While the next round of war-funding legislation is not likely to be considered until spring, Pelosi said there will be a test vote in January on support for the troop buildup. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) has said he will offer a privileged resolution next month calling for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. The vote is likely to fail because of broad Republican support for the war, but it could reveal the depth of the schism between Obama and his fellow Democrats on the new troop plan.

"The president looked at, obviously, a number of options that he believed did not adequately change the calculus of what was currently going on in Afghanistan, and that the best way forward was to do this," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in his daily news briefing. "The president may not get the agreement of every member of Congress or every Democratic member of Congress, but will certainly make the case for why he believes this is the best path forward."

Asked if the administration was surprised by Pelosi's position, Gibbs said the speaker had in the past made statements "in opposition to adding more forces, as, quite frankly, a number of members of Congress have done."

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/16/AR2009121604161.html?hpid=topnews