Democrats Respond to Bush's Speech

Guess what?

The Democrat candidates for president aren't satisfied with President Bush's plan to move forward in Iraq.

Did you see that coming?

Ben Smith has reaction from the Dems.

HILLARY CLINTON:

What the president told the American people tonight is that one year from now, there will be the same number of troops in Iraq as there were one year ago. That is simply too little too late, and unacceptable to this Congress and the American people who have made clear their strong desire to bring our brave troops home.

The commander in chief has the authority to issue the order to greatly accelerate the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq, and to bring so many more of our troops home so much faster. They have done everything we have asked of them and more, but are now stuck in the middle of a civil war. I continue to implore the President to change course, bring our troops home faster, and end this war responsibly as soon as possible."

JOHN EDWARDS:

All Americans honor the incredible sacrifice of our troops. They have done everything asked of them with courage and resolve. Now we should bring them home.

They are policing a civil war, and the only way to end that civil war is for both sides, Sunni and Shia, to take responsibility to end it by agreeing to a political solution. And the only way to force them to take responsibility is to withdraw our troops – starting now.

Unfortunately, the president is pressing on with the only strategy he has ever had – more time, more troops and more war.

BARACK OBAMA:

It is long past time to end a war that never should have started. President Bush was wrong when he took us to war, he was wrong when he escalated this war in January, and he is wrong to stay the course now. I opposed this war from the beginning, I introduced legislation in January that would have already started to bring our troops home, and I will continue to lead the fight in the Senate for a fixed timeline with a deadline for the removal of all of our combat troops. The American people are not going to be fooled by the same false promises of success that got us into Iraq.

BILL RICHARDSON:

Enough is enough. This president lacks credibility. President Bush needs to stop putting his historical legacy ahead of the safety of our troops and the security of our nation.

JOE BIDEN:

This war belongs to the President, not to his generals or his ambassadors.

It is the President’s time – and his responsibility – to answer a question that the general carrying out his policies in Iraq could not answer: is pressing ahead with the war making America safer?

Based on everything we heard this week from the President’s surrogates and everything I have seen and heard during my eight trips to Iraq, the answer is no.

The President’s strategy in Iraq is not succeeding. It is not making America safer. Doing more of the same would be a disaster.

I think it's fair to say that the Dems did not respond positively to Bush's Thursday night address to the nation.

I wonder what Osama bin Laden's reaction was to the speech. He probably was disappointed that Bush didn't announce a massive retreat; but I imagine he was pleased by how the Democrats reacted to Bush's plan.
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In a shocking turn of events, HERB KOHL woke up and released a statement on the President's address on the Petraeus Report. I guess he got over that jet lag after his trip to China.

"I'm disappointed that the President's strategy for Iraq appears to continue down the same dead-end road. We will see a draw down of troops next year -- in part because our soldiers have been stretched to the limit -- but only to pre-surge levels. The draw down will, in effect, bring us back to where we started. The American people, myself included, are frustrated with the lack of political progress in Iraq and want to see the Administration begin to end our commitment there."

That's an unusually strong statement from Kohl. It's unusual for him to make a statement at all.

Former candidate for president RUSS FEINGOLD reacts to Bush's speech:

“The President wants to keep the same pre-surge level of troops bogged down in an open-ended mission in Iraq, while Al Qaeda continues to strengthen and regenerate itself in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The President can pretend that drawing down the surge is a redeployment strategy, but the American people aren't fooled. Next week, I intend to push for a vote on my proposal to safely redeploy our troops from Iraq so that we can focus on the global fight against Al Qaeda.”

So is Feingold's effort to censure President Bush on the back burner for now?

It takes time, not to mention skill and experience in military strategy, to come up with a redeployment plan.

Apparently, commander in chief wannabe Feingold wants to usurp President Bush's authority.

Perhaps Feingold is busy plotting a coup.