Bush Puts Hard Sell On His Iraq Plan

President Reviews Troop Increase In Speech To Soldiers At Fort Benning

(CBS/AP)  Durbin said the while the president has the power to do largely as he sees fit in Iraq, "he's going to be held accountable like he's never been held accountable before."

Durbin said he told the president Wednesday: "You know I disagree with you, but I hope you're right."

Gates told reporters that he is recommending an overall increase in the military of 92,000 soldiers and Marines over the next five years, bringing the overall total to 202,000 in Marines and 547,000 in the Army worldwide. Mr. Bush said last month that he would propose extra troops for the armed forces, which have been strained by the protracted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Gates also said that to ease the strain on U.S. forces in Iraq, he would have to cycle some reserve units back to the war zone faster than current Pentagon policy, which is to mobilize those units for a year after at least five years of being inactive.

Gates said today's "global demands" made that change necessary, but said it would "allow us to move closer to removing the stress on the total force."

Asked if the new U.S. and Iraqi offensive would go after Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-U.S. radical Shiite cleric, Gates said, "All lawbreakers are susceptible to being detained or taken care of in this campaign."

Sadr is a key ally of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

In remarks prepared for delivery to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rice stressed that Iraqi obligations for troops, money and the political will to allow the Bush plan to succeed. She promised oversight, without giving specifics.

"Iraqis are in the lead; we are supporting them," Rice said. "Improvement in the security situation, especially in Baghdad, will open a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government to accelerate the process of national reconciliation. We can and will measure whether this work is being done."

Rice told CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith that the president had taken a lot of time to get the opinions of various members of Congress and had "come up with a considered strategy that gives us the best opportunity for success, given the sectarian violence that has really spiked since February."

On Iran, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, told reporters the kind of missions that Bush described Wednesday as efforts to "seek out and destroy" networks providing weapons to anti-American forces would take place only inside Iraq. Those missions would not extend, for instance, into Iran, he said.

"We can take care of the security for our troops by doing the business we need to do inside of Iraq," Pace said.

On another issue, Rice called the chaotic, controversial circumstances surrounding the hanging of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein "extremely unfortunate" — some of the strongest criticism from the administration to date. When Mr. Bush was asked his reaction last week, he said only that he wished "the proceedings had gone on in a more dignified way."

Also Thursday, a coalition of labor, anti-war groups and liberal organizations was announcing a multimillion-dollar advertising and grass-roots campaign against the commitment of extra troops.

In his 20-minute speech, Mr. Bush took responsibility for mistakes in Iraq and outlined a strategy he said would pull it out of its spiral of violence. The plan would increase the U.S. troop presence from the current 132,000 to 153,500 at a cost of $5.6 billion.

"If we increase our support at this crucial moment and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home," Mr. Bush said.

[dallison7]

Ever notice that whenever Bush wants to sell one of his lies he rushes for a photo-op on a military base where 'support for the commander-in-chief is the order of the day'?

[randalds]

hillaryin08 wrote:

"I know why we went into the Balkans. I was baiting the libs again on the old "they never attacked us" bit."

So your point was to show us that you're an idiot?
Posted by mcdazz at 08:38 AM : Jan 13, 2007

Hey! At least give him (or she or it) credit for doing a wonderful job of proving it!

hillaryin08 wrote:

"I know why we went into the Balkans. I was baiting the libs again on the old "they never attacked us" bit."

So your point was to show us that you're an idiot?

[exusmcsgt]

MarkS7177-

As I always say, Bubba only listens to Rove and God.

His recent decision to ignore the Iraq Study Group, ignore the message from the voting public in November and ignore his generals regarding an escalation in Iraq is just further proof of my contention.

[dani091]

i think that if he gonin to draft that he needs to go his self i'm a twin who has a twin brother that i worried about b/c i think that hes goin to get drafted its hard out here in the world already but kno that bush wants to make it harder its just a matter of time befor the gets out of hand know i know i'm only 17 years old but looking at the world to makes me feel like i don't want to be here. and thats ashame but i can't wait for 2008 so we can get a new president cuz to tell u the truth i would'nt want bush if he was the last man on earth and that from the bottum of heart

[grumpas]

hillaryin08 I am sick to death of hard core conservative's like you who don't have a gram of good common horse sense! What is it going to take for people like you to grow up and face the fact Bush is a liar, cheat and theif! There is nothing admirable about the man! You must be really proud of the fact that you are a card carrying fascist! He is sending a lot of men to their death's for what????? It's already been proven we aren't in Iraq to defend our freedom! Saddam was no threat to us militaryily! There were no weapons of mass destruction, no Saddam/911 connection! So, why are we even there other than we have a President who won't admit he is a liar! One who is a meglomaniac and has designs on the whole middle east! You obviously have very little regard for our army! Otherwise you wouldn't be asking them to die for nothing!

[frankly6]

hillaryin08

The Balkans also was a success because it wasn't handled by incompetents.

[frankly6]

hillaryin08

The Balkans was an actual humanitarian mission. We didn't go there to steal oil.

[hillaryin08]

In case that Jobs thing to other contries comes up again, the answer to the question is................suspence and drumroll..............Algore!

[hillaryin08]

I know why we went into the Balkans. I was baiting the libs again on the old "they never attacked us" bit.

[hillaryin08]

"Midwest Rust Belt States have lost millions of Manufacturing Jobs because of unfair trade practices and the political decisions to send jobs to foreign countries? When will our elected officials turn their priorities to support the will of their electorate?"

Posted by bluestardad at 07:22 AM : Jan 12, 2007

Remember who cast the deciding vote for NAFTA?

[gunnerv1]

hillaryin08, we went there because of the UN

[gunnerv1]

RandalS, where are you? Come out and play, we promis we won't break anything this time. Your Friend, GunnerV. I'm still on line because My Radioactive delivery is not ready for the Researcher. Where are you? I'm at work (Full time)

[hillaryin08]

Kosovo was not a threat either why did we go their? And most of all, where was your outrage then?

[bjlovejoy]

The root problem is that this country has a standing army AT ALL. Our Founding Fathers knew the dangers of having a standing army. History shows that leaders just can't help themselves but to getting into misadventures such as Vietnam and Iraq. A call to arms to the militia, hopefully a well-regulated one, would be MORE than adequate to fend off any REAL threat to this country. Note that the president's responsibility in the Constitution is to defend the United States proper.

Sending troops halfway around the world to defend "American interests" (read oil) is NOT, I repeat, is NOT a legitimate use of deadly force.

Can you imagine the government trying to rally up support for gathering up common citizens, who make up our militia, and sending them around the world to "protect our interests"? There's no way anyone would put up with that nonsense.

The Democrats have promised to continue funding for our current troops. They are every bit as committed to a standing army as are the Republicans. Both parties are an equal threat to our long term survival as a country.

[hillaryin08]

We had two choices libs, cut and run or stay and fight. Looks like we're going to stay and fight.
Your not going to get an impeachment or a funding cut either. Your leadership knows they don%u2019t have the votes for impeachment and the president holds the cards on the funding for this war. Sure their will be investigations and the usual hype in the media but at the end of the day, your not going to get what you want and they still got your vote.

[luvny-2009]

exusmcsgt - BINGO

[exusmcsgt]

As I said yesterday, this is all about Bubba avoiding two INEVITABLE truths.

First, that his legacy will be that of a moron.

Secondly, that he and the Neocons played right into Iran's hands by destroying a united Iraq.

[luvny-2009]

I think that moron knows exactly what he's doing, he's trying to put the blame elsewhere. If congress says no then he blames them, if they send out kids and we know it will just be a bandaid then he blames Iraq. It's a win win for that a$$hole.

[bluestardad]

This escalation of Iraq combat has not been approved by Congress and the President does not have the right to escalate the war. It is time the Iraqi people took responsibility for their own country. The President%u2019s stated reasons for war with Iraq in the original mandate from congress does not apply and has been proven false on every point, at the cost of 3 American lives a day and two billion tax dollars a week. Congress must act to stop all funds for this war now and bring our troops home. November 7, 2006 was a mandate to stop the war in Iraq and the Culture of Corruption in Washington. What great things could American domestic programs do with two billion dollars a week we are spending in Iraq?
Billions of Dollars in Job Creation funds have been spent in Iraq and are now requested for Iraq. What elected official either in the House of Representatives or the Senate could with good conscience vote to send Billions of American Tax Dollars to create Jobs and rebuild infrastructure in Iraq while in America coast to coast infrastructure needs repair and the Midwest Rust Belt States have lost millions of Manufacturing Jobs because of unfair trade practices and the political decisions to send jobs to foreign countries? When will our elected officials turn their priorities to support the will of their electorate?