Bush 'is digging a hole'

2005-12-01 07:59

Washington - President George W. Bush's Iraq speech on Wednesday failed to allay opposition concerns, as the top Democrat in the US House of Representatives added her name to a short list of lawmakers calling for a quick withdrawal of US troops.

Bush gave a speech on his strategy forward in Iraq at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, making the case for staying the course there.

But the top House Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, not only remained unconvinced, but she endorsed on Wednesday a controversial proposal by a senior member of her party, calling for an quick pullout of US troops from Iraq.

Pelosi backed the withdrawal resolution proposed by Representative John Murtha, a staunchly pro-military former marine who shocked the Washington political establishment with his troop pullout resolution nearly two weeks ago.

"I'm endorsing what Mr Murtha is saying, which is that the status quo is not working and that we need to have a plan that makes us safer and our military stronger and makes Iraq more stable," Pelosi said at a press conference.

"I believe that what he has said has great wisdom. While the president is digging a hole, Mr Murtha is speaking from the light of day about the realities in Iraq," she said.

In his speech, Bush defiantly refused to set a date for a US pullout and warning that victory requires "time and patience." But leading Democrats hammered the address speech as rehashed remains of a failed administration policy.

"The best way to protect the troops, the best way to stand up for the troops, is to provide the best policy for success in Iraq," US Senator John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate.

Strategy for exit

"The strategy for exit is, in fact, part of the strategy for success. They go hand in hand."

Senator Ted Kennedy, an outspoken critic of the administration, said the White House was attempting "to put lipstick on his failed Iraq strategy."

"It's still a plan for a continued open-ended commitment, which puts at risk our troops on the ground and our citizens at home."

And Senator Russell Feingold, one of few Democrats to vote against the 2002 resolution authorising Bush to use military force in Iraq, also dismissed Bush's speech as more of the same.

"The president seems more dug in than ever to the same old 'stay the course' way of thinking," said Feingold, who was one of the first US lawmakers to call for a timetable for a US troop withdrawal from Iraq.

For their part, Republican leaders, noting that Pelosi earlier withheld her support for Murtha, accused her on Wednesday of "playing politics" on the politically charged debate.

"This have-it-every-which way attitude exposes Pelosi as a political meteorologist whose principles are dictated by the winds of the day and the gust of ideologues," said Representative Tom Reynolds, chairperson of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

- AFP