Bush cynically attempts to weaken Democrats' resolve by highlighting troops' suffering

[bigtree]

In political battle, Bush talks of troops suffering

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg
Tuesday, April 17, 2007

WASHINGTON: In his confrontation with Congress over war spending, President George W. Bush is calculating that he can weaken the resolve of Democrats with frequent and specific warnings that delays in passing the bill will hurt American troops and their families.

As Bush makes his case for a war spending bill with no strings attached, White House aides say that talking about the troops is more compelling than delivering up Bush's other frequent message: that withdrawal from Iraq would be disastrous for the United States. That is why, they say, Bush appeared in the East Room of the White House on Monday surrounded by families of soldiers - including some who have died - to hammer home his message that further delays may mean unpleasant Pentagon cutbacks.

"The clock is ticking for our troops," Bush said, over the gurgling of babies squirming in their mothers' arms. "Congress's failure to fund our troops will mean that the readiness of our forces will suffer."

{snip}

Democrats dismiss Bush's warnings about training and equipment cutbacks. They note that Bush made no similar complaints last year when the Republican-controlled Congress waited until June to pass an emergency spending bill for Iraq operations. What is more, they say, the public is on their side.

"The status quo that he's talking about, which is basically, 'Just give me the money, I'm going to do what I want to do,' is rejected by an overwhelming number of Americans," said Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, and a member of the Armed Services Committee. "They want to see some change."

At least one recent U.S. poll, by CBS News, suggests that Reed, a former paratrooper, may have a point. The telephone poll conducted last week found that just 29 percent of respondents said that Congress should allow all funding for the war in Iraq, without any limits. A clear majority - 58 percent - favored setting time limits, and an additional 9 percent wanted all funding blocked.


http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/17/news/prexy.php?page=1



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[C_U_L8R]

1. Bush put the troops in that no-win situation

just to set the record straight.
And he still has no clue how to fix Iraq now that he's broken it.

[Bitwit1234]

2. If HE doesn't sign the bill the dems should keep pushing

that fact. They should keep saying over and over...We sent bush a bill HE is the one who won't sign it.