Post #50

Subject: No More New Troops in Iraq

My responses and additions – in [brackets]….

----- Start Forwarded Message -----
From: "Joe Biden"

As President Bush prepares to announce a new strategy for Iraq, one idea has emerged as his leading option: to surge more troops into Baghdad in a last ditch effort to stabilize the city.

There is one big problem with that option: in the absence of a political settlement among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, it will not work. We've tried the military surge option before and it failed. If we try it again, it will fail again.

And surging our forces in Baghdad risks terrible consequences: more American lives lost and more unbearable strain on our military for no strategic gain. If the President proposes ecalation in Iraq, I will oppose him and so will many of my colleagues in Congress.

In January, I intend to hold a series of hearings in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Iraq. I have already invited Secretary of State Rice to testify. It is my hope that these hearings will generate a bipartisan consensus around the best way to move forward in Iraq and convince the President that "surging" additional forces into Baghdad is not the answer.

[OK, Joe, but no “invites,” no “convincing” – the ball is in your court. The November elections have given you and Congress the power – Subpeona Conni and force her to testify about Bush’s “New Way Forward.” And, if the answers do not make sense, cut off the money for this God-foresaken mess in Iraq. Be a leader – Stand up. If you want to be President, the time is now to start acting Presidential!]