Dems challenge Bush's power to wage war

WASHINGTON - Democrats are challenging
President Bush's power to wage war, contending they've found a way to block a troop increase in
Iraq and prevent any pre-emptive invasion of
Iran.

But first Congress will vote on a nonbinding measure stating opposition to Bush's decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. The House was expected to pass the measure on Friday, with the Senate planning to hold a test vote Saturday.

Democrats say the votes are the first step toward forcing Bush to change course in a war that has killed more than 3,100 U.S. troops and lost favor with voters.

"This country needs a dramatic change of course in Iraq and it is the responsibility of this Congress to consummate that change," said Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record), who chairs the House panel that oversees military spending.

Murtha, D-Pa., is preparing legislation that would set strict conditions on combat deployments, including a year rest between combat tours; ultimately, the congressman says, his measure would make it impossible for Bush to maintain his planned deployment of a total of about 160,000 troops for months on end.

Murtha's proposal also might block the funding of military operations inside Iran — a measure intended to send a signal to Bush that he will need Congress' blessing if he is planning another war.

"The president could veto it, but then he wouldn't have any money," Murtha told an anti-war group in an interview broadcast on movecongress.org.

In an interview Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., noted that Bush consistently said he supports a diplomatic resolution to differences with Iran "and I take him at his word."

At the same time, she said, "I do believe that Congress should assert itself, though, and make it very clear that there is no previous authority for the president, any president, to go into Iran."

Bush said at a news conference Wednesday he has no doubt the Iranian government is providing armor-piercing weapons to kill American troops in Iraq. But he backed away from claims by senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad that the top echelon of Iran's government was responsible.

Administration critics have accused the president of looking for a pretense to attack Iran, at loggerheads with the
United Nations about what Tehran says is a nuclear program aimed at developing energy for peaceful purposes.

In a speech Thursday, Bush said he expects Congress to live up to its promise to support the troops.

"We have a responsibility, Republicans and Democrats have a responsibility to give our troops the resources they need to do their job and the flexibility they need to prevail," Bush said.

In the third day of a House debate on the war, GOP combat veterans spoke out against the Democratic resolution.

"The enemy wants our men and women in uniform to think their Congress doesn't care about them," said Rep. Sam Johnson (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, who was a prisoner of war during Vietnam. "We must learn from our mistakes. We cannot leave a job undone like we left in Korea, like we left in Vietnam, like we left in Somalia," Johnson said.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record) of California, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, called the political maneuvering by Democrats "extremely dangerous."

"It could stop reinforcements from arriving in time to stop major casualties in any of a number of scenarios," said Hunter.

Democrats will have to fight critics in the Senate as well.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure the House resolution dies an inglorious death in the Senate," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C.

source (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070216/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq)

"We're gonna stay the course " --- " Stay the course " -- " Now when did you ever hear me say we're gonna stay the course? " --- " This best option is to stay the course "

In a nutshell -shrug-

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton warned President Bush not to take any military action against Iran without getting congressional approval first.

"If the administration believes that any, any use of force against Iran is necessary, the president must come to Congress to seek that authority," Clinton said in a Senate speech on Wednesday.

Clinton, a member of the Armed Services Committee, voted in 2002 to give Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq -- a vote that has prompted some Democrats to demand that she repudiate.

Since then, the New York senator has become an outspoken critic of Bush's handling of the war. She said the new Democratic Congress must not let him make similar mistakes in the increasingly tense relationship with Iran.

"It would be a mistake of historical proportion if the administration thought that the 2002 resolution authorizing force against Iraq was a blank check for the use of force against Iran without further congressional authorization," Clinton said.

She also insisted the resolution authorizing force against those responsible for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks did not allow for U.S. action now against Iran.

Clinton, who has come under fire from anti-war Democrats, excoriated the previous Republican-controlled Congress for not questioning the administration over the past six years.

"We continue to experience the consequences of unchecked presidential action," she said, later adding: "This president was allowed for too long to commit blunder after blunder under cover of darkness provided by an allied Republican Congress."
Speech follows Bush contention Iran supplying Iraq fighters

Clinton spoke shortly after Bush said he was certain the Iranian government is supplying deadly weapons used by fighters in Iraq against U.S. troops, even if he can't prove that the orders came from top Iranian leaders.

"I'm going to do something about it," Bush pledged, displaying apparent irritation at being repeatedly asked about mixed administration signals on who was behind the weaponry. He said the United States is pursuing diplomatic solutions with Iran about its nuclear program and said he was not seeking a pretext for war.

U.S. officials have said that Iran is behind attacks against troops in Iraq, an assertion denied by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

We can't leave now it would be another Viet Nam. Also don't escalate troops in Iraq, Afghanistan or any where else we are. Why not just withdraw our troops and send a single bomber with one Neutron bomb on board. I am not normally a hawk, but I am tired of seeing the young men and women killed off by Iraqi insurgents. It would be over much more quickly and save many more lives.