Bush On The Air: ‘Micromanaging’ The War
March 17, 2007, 12:42pm
With the House set to debate an emergency spending bill next week to cover military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Bush chastised lawmakers who he said hope to use the bill “to micromanage our military commanders, force a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq, and spend billions on domestic projects that have nothing to do with the war on terror.”
Bush vowed to veto any bill that would attach strings to emergency defense spending.
He decried the proposed “arbitrary and restrictive conditions” on using the money in the bill and the demand that U.S. troops be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year if the conditions are not met. “These restrictions would handcuff our generals in the field by denying them the flexibility they need to adjust their operations to the changing situation on the ground,” he said. “And these restrictions would substitute the mandates of Congress for the considered judgment of our military commanders.”
The president also criticized language that would require Iraqi security forces to meet certain conditions or lose money, and he voiced opposition to domestic spending added to the bill by Congress. “Congress must not allow debate on domestic spending to delay funds for our troops on the front lines,” Bush said. “And members should not use funding our troops as leverage to pass special interest spending for their districts.”
The Democratic radio address also focused on the war in Iraq, with Sen. Patty Murray of Washington defending that chamber’s vote to narrow the mission of U.S. troops and begin redeployment in four months.
“The war raging in the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq is a civil war,” she said. “It can’t be won by military force alone. It can only be resolved by Iraqis talking to Iraqis, and forging the political settlements that will end the violence.
“Unfortunately, this is a reality President Bush and a majority of congressional Republicans still refuse to recognize. They want to stay the course. They want to ignore the lessons of the last four years. They want to commit America to an open-ended civil war.
Categories: Podcast of the Week, Iraq, White House, Terrorism, Weekly Radio Address, Budget
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