New Presidential Speech

The President addressed the nation last night from a room in the White House Library. He summarized the situation in Iraq, admitted that he made mistakes (better late than never), and laid out his heavily-leaked and debated "new course" for Iraq. Here is what he wants:

"... This is a strong commitment. But for it to succeed, our commanders say the Iraqis will need our help. So America will change our strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence and bring security to the people of Baghdad. This will require increasing American force levels. So I've committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq. The vast majority of them -- five brigades -- will be deployed to Baghdad. These troops will work alongside Iraqi units and be embedded in their formations. Our troops will have a well-defined mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods, to help them protect the local population, and to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the security that Baghdad needs. ..."
-President George Bush, January 10th, 2007
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070110-7.html

The American people are not taking this very well. It has already been established that most of the nation believes that a surge would be a bad idea, more of them saying that we should withdraw. And it's not just the electorate that thinks that, military anaylsts and the generals on the ground are generally opposed to a surge. An increase of 20,000 troops is like sticking your fist in a sinkful of water and taking it out, described one journalist. It would take far more than 20k to make a big difference, and the American people are not willing to give any more lives for this cause.

Congress isn't taking this lightly either. The Democrats and a growing minority of Republicans are opposed to this surge as well. According to The Blue State, only 12 of the 49 Republicans in the Senate back the surge. The rest are doubtful, Vietnam vet Chuck Hagel is cynical:

"I think this speech given last night by this president represents the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam if it's carried out."
-Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), January 11th, 2007
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/1/11/120902.shtml

The Democrats, who control Congress, are trying their best to stop the surge. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) introduced legislation to stop the escalation of troops and the funding for said troops. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that the Congress has only the power of the purse, and the President controls the military. Let's see what the Constitution says:

"Section 8: The Congress shall have power...

... To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress..."
-Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution

Tough luck Tony.

-Josh