Democrats Weigh Moves on Troop Cut

[babylonsister]

Democrats Weigh Moves on Troop Cut
By CQ Staff | 10:05 AM; Sep. 11, 2007

By John M. Donnelly and Josh Rogin, CQ Staff


snip//

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., responded that the Petraeus plan was too little, too late and called on the administration to pull out more troops sooner.

“The president promised the American people that this surge would be a short-term effort to provide space for political reform and national reconciliation in Iraq,” she said in a statement. “Today, despite overwhelming evidence that neither goal has been achieved, Gen. Petraeus testified that the surge would last at least until next summer. This is simply unacceptable.”

In the Senate, where Petraeus and Crocker are scheduled to appear Tuesday before the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, Democrats also expressed skepticism about their testimony.

“Nothing today suggested that President Bush’s eight months of escalation have done anything to achieve political progress in a deadly civil war,” said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

But translating such protests into legislation will be no easy task, and in coming days Democrats in both chambers will have to sort out their next steps. Although the defense authorization bill (HR 1585) is scheduled to return to the Senate floor next week, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has not decided whether to consider any Iraq-related amendments to it or to take up the issue in stand-alone bills. Democrats are mulling over several such ­measures.

Senate Democrats were expected to continue to put political pressure on the administration Tuesday, pressing Petraeus and Crocker not only to bring more troops home sooner but also to change the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq.

more...

http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/09/democrats_weigh_moves_on_troop.html#more

[fedupfisherman]

1. But what are they doing to do??

Bush won't budge