During a short press briefing held late afternoon, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid criticized President Bush's expected plans to escalate US troop numbers in Iraq. Bush will address the nation tonight and is expected to announce that an additional 21,500 troops will be sent.
"The American people have lost confidence in the president's policy," Pelosi said.
Pelosi noted that "surges" hadn't worked twice before, so why do it again – and why now, when troops already in Iraq could be shifted around instead.
"Why can't they just redeploy some troops from inside Iraq to further or better fortify Baghdad as they try to regain control there?" asked Pelosi.
"Why does the administration believe that this time an increase in the number of troops will do the trick?" Anchor Shepard Smith summarized for Fox News Channel viewers. "She mentioned that it happened twice before and it has over the past 12 months and neither of those last times have had the desired effect achieved."
A recent Washington Post article reported that deaths of Iraqi civilians tripled at the end of 2006.
Pelosi and Reid also emphasized that Democrats support the troops, and that no funds that would go towards US soldiers on the battlefield would be affected in any way. Speaker Pelosi recently warned that the Democratic-controlled Congress would not give Bush a "blank check" to wage war in Iraq as Republicans have in the past.
"The military has performed excellently," Pelosi said today, "we want the best for them, they certainly have not gotten that."
"Even before Bush spoke, Democrats were laying plans to register their opposition to the troop buildup," the Associated Press reports. "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged to hold a vote on the increase, trying to isolate Bush on his handling of the war."
"Democratic leaders in the Senate, saying they hoped to win some Republican support, said they planned to have their chamber debate a symbolic measure next week also expressing opposition to troop increases," the AP article continues.
In another press briefing held by Republican leadership shortly after the Democrats spoke, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called Bush's plan "courageous and correct."
During a short press briefing held late afternoon, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid criticized President Bush's expected plans to escalate US troop numbers in Iraq. Bush will address the nation tonight and is expected to announce that an additional 21,500 troops will be sent.