the rix mix

A sad, disappointing night. George W. Bush declared victory for his Iraq War policy, & he had good reason to if that policy is a permanent American miliary presence in Iraq. Because he will leave office with the policy in place. He entered office wanting to put the United States military in Iraq, & he did. It will be up to the next president to change it. As a Republican, he's betting the next president will be a Republican. Congressional Democrats have neither the will nor the power to stop him. Bush can say anything he wants. Of course his speech was absurd. But it doesn't matter. He's certain both history & God will absolve him. Only his own political party could force his hand now, & it won't. Bush accomplished what he set out to do tonight, which was to prevent Republicans from making common cause with Democrats this month.

I haven't located a list of all 36 nations Bush says have "troops on the ground in Iraq."

John Edwards:

In January, after years of evidence that military actions cannot force a political solution, the president announced a military surge to force a political solution. In May, he vetoed a plan to end the war, demanded more time to show the surge could work, and Congress gave it to him. Now, after General Petraeus reports the surge has produced no progress toward a political solution, what does the president want? More time for the surge to work, when we know it won't.

Our troops are stuck between a president without a plan to succeed and a Congress without the courage to bring them home.

But Congress must answer to the American people. Tell Congress you know the truth - they have the power to end this war and you expect them to use it. When the president asks for more money and more time, Congress needs to tell him he only gets one choice: a firm timeline for withdrawal.

No timeline, no funding. No excuses.

It is time to end this war.