Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq draws fire from Democrats

Shortly after announcing on Wednesday night that over 20,000 additional American troops will be sent to Iraq, U.S. President George W. Bush came under fire from Democratic leaders in Congress.

Deploying more troops to Iraq to help quell the escalating sectarian violence in the Middle East country, particularly in its capital Baghdad, was a centerpiece of Bush's new Iraq strategy, which also included economic, political and diplomatic steps.

In a prime-time televised speech, Bush attributed failure of past U.S. efforts to secure Baghdad to two main reasons: not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods cleared of terrorists and insurgents, and too many restrictions on U.S. troops deployed in the war-torn country.

To help the Iraqis put down sectarian violence and bring security to Baghdad, the United States would change its strategy and increasing American force levels in the country, he said.

Immediately after Bush's address, Democrats raised challenge about Bush's new Iraq strategy.

"The situation is grave and deteriorating," Senate Democratic Whip Richard Durbin said in the televised Democratic response to Bush speech.

The president's response to the challenge of Iraq was to send more American soldiers into the crossfire of the "civil war" that has engulfed that nation, he said.

Durbin said he used the term "civil war" at a meeting with Bush on Iraq on Tuesday.

"Escalation of this war is not the change the American people called for in the last election. Instead of a new direction, the president's plan moves the American commitment in Iraq in the wrong direction," he said.

Durbin said 20,000 American soldiers "are too few to end this civil war in Iraq and too many American lives to risk on top of those we've already lost." Over 3,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the war started in March 2003.

In the Democratic response, Durbin said it was time for Bush to face the reality of Iraq. "America has paid a heavy price," he said, which included the lives of more than 3,000 American soldiers and tens of billions of "hard-earned tax dollars of the families of America."

Now in the fourth year of the war, it was time for the Iraqis to stand and defend their own nation, he said.

While rebuking Bush's plan for more troops to Iraq, Durbin said the Democratic-controlled Congress remained committed to providing the military "every resource they need to fight effectively and come home safely."

In a joint statement following Bush's address, Democratic leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said American voters "delivered a strong message of no confidence in the president's Iraq policy and clearly expressed their desire for a new direction" in last November's elections.

Democrats regained control of both chambers of Congress in the elections, the first time in a dozen years.

The statement said Bush chose to escalate the U.S. involvement in Iraq's civil war by proposing a substantial increase in the number of American forces, and the proposal endangered American national security by placing additional burdens on the already over-extended U.S. military.

The Democratic leaders said that rather than escalating the U.S. involvement in Iraq by sending additional troops, a new plan should include shifting greater responsibility to the Iraqis for their security, and transitioning the principal mission of U.S. forces from combat to training, logistics, force protection, and counter terrorism operations;

The new plan should also include a phased redeployment of U.S. forces that should start in the next four to six months; and an aggressive diplomatic strategy, both within the region and beyond, they said.

Meanwhile, Democrats, who have vowed to use their powers of spending and policy oversight to challenge Bush's new Iraq plan, have planned to hold a series of hearings this week on Iraq.

On Thursday, Democrats will call Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to appear before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to defend Bush's new Iraq strategy, and the House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In the Senate, the Foreign Relations Committee were to hold hearings Wednesday on the current situation in Iraq, then grill Rice on the president's plan Thursday. Gates and Pace will go before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday.

Source: Xinhua