Bush Seeks Iraq War Funds ‘With No Strings’

[maddezmom]

Bush Seeks Iraq War Funds ‘With No Strings’
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By JIM RUTENBERG
Published: March 12, 2007
BOGOTÁ, Colombia, March 11 — President Bush on Sunday called for Congress to provide financing for the Iraq war “with no strings attached.” And he defended his decision, made formal this weekend, to send more than 8,000 more troops to Iraq and Afghanistan by saying they would be dedicated to training and support missions.

Referring to the increase of 21,500 troops that he announced in January, Mr. Bush said during a press briefing here, “Those combat troops are going to need some support, and that’s what the American people are seeing in terms of Iraq — the support troops that are necessary to help the reinforcements do their job.”

Mr. Bush added that the additional troops he had decided to send to Afghanistan would primarily be “part of a training and embedding mission” aimed at speeding the readiness of Afghan troops and supporting an increase in the number of national police officers.

The president’s aides announced this weekend that Mr. Bush had formally approved the deployment of 4,700 more troops to Iraq — on top of the 21,500 troops being sent as part of his new war plan — and 3,500 to Afghanistan. The Pentagon had already indicated that it would need to send additional troops to Iraq to support the increases Mr. Bush announced in January. But the specific increase for Afghanistan had not been previously mentioned.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/world/middleeast/12military.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

What ever happened to the benchmarks???? Ah that's right, they aren't meeting them. :mad:



Political wrangling still stands in way of Iraq meeting major benchmarks
~snip~

And recent talk of changes in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government may just increase the paralysis as groups maneuver for more power.

Iraq missed the Dec. 31 target dates to enact laws establishing provincial elections, regulating distribution of the country's oil wealth and reversing measures that have excluded many Sunni Muslims from jobs and government positions because they belonged to Saddam Hussein's Baath party.

The U.S. is also pushing for constitutional amendments to remove articles which the Sunnis believe discriminate in favor of the Shiite Muslims and Kurds.

So far, the only success has been a new oil law, which al-Maliki's Cabinet endorsed on Feb. 26 and sent to parliament for approval. Leaders of all main political blocs have pledged to support the bill, which lays down rules for negotiating contracts and distributing the revenues among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

But parliament has not taken up the measure yet, and the deputy speaker told The Associated Press that the draft may have to be sent back to the Cabinet because al-Maliki's staff skipped some legal steps in endorsing it the first time.

more: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x268013

[lligrd]

1. Americans Seek President With No Strings Attached

Wouldn't that be nice?

[ClintonTyree]

2. Well,the "no strings" approach...

has been working splendidly so far, why change horses in the middle of a stream? :sarcasm: Unable to account for BILLIONS of dollars, no-bid contracts to Bush cronies, sub-standard compliance with contracts that are awarded......I mean, why would the meddlesome Congressional Democrats want to interfere with a system that is working so well? DOUBLE :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Bush's entire pResidency has been "no strings attached". What strings that DID exist before were hastily cut by Bush's signing statements. There certainly hasn't been any oversight of Bush's imperial presidency so the "no strings" things is working out just fine for him. For now, at least. Problem is, those dastardly Democrats actually want some accountability for the money and methods used by the Bushistas. What's up with that? :eyes:

[CJCRANE]

3. He's making this up as he goes along.

First it was 20,000 extra troops, now it turns out it's 30,000...next week it could be 40,000...