Hoyer On Bush Plan

By Patrick O'Connor

(The Politico)  Democrats didn’t seem terribly enthused about President Bush’s plans to withdraw 30,000 from Iraq next summer.

"The President is clearly determined to stay-the-course in Iraq, and is not swayed by the readiness crisis in our Armed Forces, the potentially negative consequences for our nation's security, or the views of the American and Iraqi people,” House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement.

"The fact is that the military long ago made clear that due to the strain on our forces the 30,000 surge troops would need to be removed by the middle of next year. 

“The President is simply bowing to reality, not responding to the American people or implementing a new strategy.  This plan would simply leave us where we started when the surge began - 18 months later.  Next summer would see America with 130,000 American troops policing a sectarian civil war and no guarantee that political reconciliation will have materialized.

“Democrats will continue to push for a real change in direction, a responsible redeployment of our troops, and a refocus on the war on terror.  We hope that Republicans will join with us, instead of supporting the President's policy."