Even If Democrats Win in November, They're Out of Luck

Bush: I won't change strategy in Iraq
Bush: I won't change strategy in Iraq
By DEB RIECHMANN and KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writers
Fri Oct 20, 7:49 PM ET

President Bush conceded Friday that "right now it's tough" for American forces in Iraq, but the White House said he would not change U.S. strategy in the face of pre-election polls that show voters are upset.

With Republicans anxious about the potential loss of Congress ?- and with conditions seemingly deteriorating in Iraq ?- Bush addressed the question of whether he would alter his policies.

"We are constantly adjusting our tactics so that we achieve the objective, and right now it's tough, it's tough," Bush said in an Associated Press interview.

Bush met with Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, at the White House for a half-hour Friday afternoon. The White House said Abizaid already was in town and Bush asked him over. The president also will consult by video conference on Saturday with Abizaid at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., and with Gen. George Casey, who leads the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq, to determine if a change in tactics is necessary to combat the increasing violence.

Despite calls for change, Bush said, "Our goal has not changed. Our goal is a country that can defend, sustain and govern itself, a country that which will serve as an ally in this war. Our tactics are adjusting."

There were fresh signs of Republican doubts about the war. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record) of Texas, who holds a seat deemed safe for the GOP, said in a campaign debate Thursday she would have voted against the war had she known ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction.

Democrats also kept up the pressure on Bush. In a letter to the president, a dozen House and Senate Democratic leaders urged him to bring home some U.S. troops and force the Iraqis to take more responsibility for their security. The Democrats said Bush should do more to pressure Iraqi leaders to disarm militias and find a political solution that would curb violence.

"The steadily mounting sectarian violence, growing insurgency and escalating casualty figures in Iraq are unacceptable and unsustainable," the Democrats said. "We urge you to change course, level with the American people and join with us to develop a policy that will work before the situation in Iraq is irretrievable."

Presidential spokesman Tony Snow said that while Bush might change tactics, he would not change his overall strategy.

"He's not somebody who gets jumpy at polls," Snow said of Bush.

Bush, at a political fundraiser in Washington for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, railed against Democrats who criticize the war. Calling the Democrats the party of "cut and run," Bush said voters need to ask: "Which political party has a strategy for victory in this war on terror?' "

As of Friday, the U.S. combat death toll in Iraq during October stood at 75 ?- possibly heading for the highest for any month in nearly two years. Now in its fourth year, the war has claimed the lives of at least 2,786 Americans. Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq has dipped to 37 percent among likely voters in the AP-Ipsos poll early this month, down slightly from 41 percent last month.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the Iraqi government must become less reliant on the United States to handle security. He also said U.S. officials are working with the Iraqis to develop projections on when that might happen.

"It's their country, they're going to have to govern it, they're going to have to provide security for it, and they're going to have to do it sooner rather than later," Rumsfeld said.

"The biggest mistake would be to not pass things over to the Iraqis, create a dependency on their part, instead of developing strength and capacity and competence," he said.

Doubts about the effectiveness of current tactics have risen, and the U.S. military has said its two-month drive to crush insurgent and militia violence in Baghdad has fallen short. Attacks in Baghdad rose by 22 percent in the first three weeks of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, compared with the three previous weeks.

On Friday, the Shiite militia run by the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr briefly seized control of the southern Iraqi city of Amarah in one of the most brazen acts of defiance yet by the country's powerful, unofficial armies. Tom Casey, deputy spokesman at the State Department, said the United States was urging the Iraqis to make sure that security in Amarah was returned to the government.

"The flare-up of violence in Amarah points out that our strategy to quell the violence in that country is failing," said Rep. Ike Skelton (news, bio, voting record) of Missouri, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

I am seeing less and less difference between the two parties.

A pox on both their houses.

Re: Even If Democrats Win in November, They're Out of Luck

A statement that is so contrary to the facts, so manifestly and verifiably erroneous, that it could only have been made by someone writing for the New York Times.

Bush has been nothing but a flip-flopper. Whether it is nation-building (against it, then for it), getting a UNSC vote on intervention in Iraq (for it, then against it), the creation of the department of homeland security (against it, then for it), creating bipartisan coalitions (claimed to be for it, probably was always against it), sending a manned mission to Mars (for it, then forgot it), or any number of other initiatives, Bush has flipped like a jailhouse snitch for six years, and there's no sign that he'll stop.

Bush is consistent. He has always been a flip flopper.

Surely even you have to admire his consistancy Joe.

(CBS/AP) President Bush said Monday the Iraq war is "straining the psyche of our country" but leaving now would be a disaster.

Mr. Bush served notice at a news conference that he would not change course or flinch from debate about the unpopular war as he campaigns for Republicans in the November congressional elections. In fact, he suggested that national security and the economy should be the top political issues, and criticized the Democrats' approach on both.

Many Democrats want to leave Iraq "before the job is done," the president said. "I can't tell you exactly when it's going to be done," he said, but "if we ever give up the desire to help people who live in freedom, we will have lost our soul as a nation, as far as I'm concerned."

Also, Mr. Bush likened Hezbollah and the violence in Lebanon to that in Iraq ?- both, in his view, the work of terrorists ?- and called for quick deployment of an international force to stabilize Lebanon, CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports.

"The reality is in order for Lebanon to succeed ?- and we want Lebanon's democracy to succeed ?- the Lebanese government's eventually going to have to deal with Hezbollah," Mr. Bush said.

Now in its fourth year, the war has taken a heavy toll ?- more than 2,600 Americans have died and many more Iraqis have been killed. Last month alone, about 3,500 Iraqis died violently, the highest monthly civilian toll so far. Bush's approval rating has slumped to the lowest point of his presidency, and Republicans are concerned that they could lose control of Congress because of voters' unhappiness.

Mr. Bush said if you think the situation is bad now, it would be chaos if the U.S. left early, CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports. But the president said he was frustrated by the war at times.

"War is not a time of joy," he said. "These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that. You know, nobody likes to see innocent people die. Nobody wants to turn on their TV on a daily basis and see havoc wrought by terrorists."

But Mr. Bush said he agreed with Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, that if "we leave before the mission is done, the terrorists will follow us here." A failed Iraq would provide a safe haven for terrorists and extremists and give them revenue from oil sales, President Bush said.

In response, Democrats said it was time for a new direction and Mr. Bush should begin redeploying troops this year.

"Our soldiers in Iraq should transition to a more limited mission focused on counterterrorism, force protection of U.S. personnel and training and logistical support of Iraqi security forces," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said, "Far from spreading freedom and democracy in the Middle East, the Bush administration has watched while extremists grow stronger, Iran goes nuclear, Iraq falls into civil war and oil and gas prices skyrocket. Simply staying the course is unacceptable."

President Bush said differences over Iraq provide "an interesting debate." "There's a lot of people ?- good, decent people ?- saying 'withdraw now.' They're absolutely wrong. ... We're not leaving, so long as I'm the president. That would be a huge mistake."

Re: Even If Democrats Win in November, They're Out of Luck

Someone give the author a copy of the constitution. The question before the voters in November is not what the president will listen to; it's whether Congress will continue to rubberstamp the president's decisions or not. It's amazing how many journalists forget that the US government has three co-equal branches.

Yes-Indeed, three equal branches and when the executive and legislative branches do not agree on the constitutionality of a bill or an executive order, it goes to__?

Alito Likely to Be Grilled More Than Roberts
Meanwhile, Judge's Friends and Foes Campaign Hard as Senate Hearings Near

By Charles Babington and Michael A. Fletcher

Washington Post Staff Writers

Thursday, January 5, 2006

Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. will face a more intensive Senate grilling next week than Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. experienced last year because of concerns over secret surveillance of Americans and Alito's lengthy record of conservative rulings, several lawmakers and interest groups said yesterday.

Alito would replace retiring centrist Sandra Day O'Connor, the decisive justice on numerous 5 to 4 rulings, further raising the stakes for the Judiciary Committee hearings, which will begin Monday. By contrast, Roberts had a shorter paper trail -- three years as an appellate judge, compared with Alito's 15 -- and he succeeded a fellow conservative, the late William H. Rehnquist, thereby having modest impact on the court's balance.

Democratic senators vowed to press Alito aggressively, and two major liberal groups issued thick reports yesterday assailing his record and urging his rejection. But his supporters dismissed the reports and continued to predict that the Republican-controlled Senate will confirm him. The American Bar Association, meanwhile, rated him "well qualified."

Even before it was revealed last month that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency in 2001 to spy on Americans without obtaining warrants, Alito seemed assured of a more contentious hearing than Roberts underwent. Democrats pointed to two memos Alito wrote in 1985 outlining his right-leaning philosophies, plus numerous dissents he wrote as an appellate judge.

Several of Alito's writings argued for a powerful executive branch, and the news about the domestic NSA surveillance program is providing grist for questions at the hearing, senators said.

"Alito has shown a strong predilection to concentrate power in the executive branch," the liberal group People for the American Way wrote in a 155-page report. The record is especially troubling, the report said, when "allegations of abuse abound, from warrantless wiretapping of American citizens to the unlawful detention and torture" of terrorism suspects.

The liberal Alliance for Justice issued a 168-page report criticizing Alito. Nan Aron, the group's president, said Alito "has the ideas and vision to move American legal thought in a radical new direction, jeopardizing our most cherished individual rights and freedoms."

Half of the Senate's 44 Democrats (and all 55 Republicans) voted to confirm Roberts, whose handling of committee questions won widespread praise in both parties. Democratic leaders say more of their colleagues will oppose Alito, but privately they say it will be difficult to block his confirmation.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, said in an interview yesterday that senators will grill Alito about proper limits on a president's powers to order domestic surveillance in light of the NSA revelation. The GOP-controlled Congress may not conduct vigorous oversight in the matter, Leahy said, and "it probably will end up with the courts being the only ones able to," so a Supreme Court justice's views are crucial.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), another committee Democrat, said: "At the outset there is more skepticism about Judge Alito than Judge Roberts because there are more things in Alito's record that seem to be extreme." Democrats will reserve judgment until the hearing, he said.

The American Bar Association, the nation's largest organization of lawyers, gave Alito its highest ranking, which Roberts also received. Stephen L. Tober, a New Hampshire lawyer who chairs the group's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary, said the association, following custom, assessed Alito on his integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament -- not on his views. One of the committee's 15 members declined to vote on the Alito question. Tober declined to identify the person or explain the reason.

Conservative groups this week are sending surrogates to tout Alito's credentials in several states. They also are airing television ads in targeted states portraying Alito as a distinguished jurist whose views are within the nation's legal mainstream.

Meanwhile, the liberal group MoveOn.org said it plans to begin airing television ads Monday portraying Alito as an extremist trying to pass himself off as a moderate. IndependentCourt.org announced plans for an ad campaign to air on black-oriented radio stations in Arkansas and Louisiana attacking Alito's civil rights record.

At the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, a conference of professors and deans from the nation's six historically black law schools concluded yesterday that Alito would pose a potential threat to several civil rights advances. As an appellate judge and previously as a Reagan administration lawyer, he has taken positions on issues -- including voting rights, employment discrimination and affirmative action -- that are hostile to civil rights, the educators said.

The prospect of Alito joining a court already closely divided on such issues is especially troubling to blacks, the faculty members said. "The Supreme Court is our court of last resort," said James M. Douglas, dean of Florida A&M University's law school. "It was where we could go to get the United States of America to do the right thing