KEY POINTS:
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush made clear today that he was going ahead with his plan to send more troops to Iraq despite an angry reaction in Congress, and accused his critics of failing to offer an alternative.
Democrats in Congress and some Republicans said they doubted Bush's strategy of adding 21,500 additional US troops in Iraq would quell the sectarian violence. They noted that past increases in force strength did not halt the bloodshed and said the Iraqi government had a poor track record of meeting promises.
Congressional Democrats were swept to power in November elections widely seen as a referendum on the unpopular war.
"We recognize that many members of Congress are skeptical," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "Members of Congress have a right to express their views, and express them forcefully."
"But those who refuse to give this plan a chance to work have an obligation to offer an alternative that has a better chance for success. To oppose everything while proposing nothing is irresponsible," he said.
Many Democrats favor a phased withdrawal of US troops beginning within a few months, and in their own radio address, they labeled the troop increase "misguided." The United States has about 130,000 troops in Iraq now, and the extra troops would go to Baghdad and the volatile Anbar province.
"It is a step in the wrong direction," said Rep. Tim Walz, a freshman Minnesota Democrat, delivering his party's weekly address.
FLOOR VOTE
Democrats want a resolution opposing the troop increase and hope to garner enough Republican support to isolate Bush. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid intends to seek a vote on the resolution next week.
In a sign of his determination to shore up support within his own party, Bush hosted top Republican lawmakers at the Camp David retreat in Maryland's mountains to discuss issues like national security and the economy.
While at Camp David, Bush taped an interview with the CBS program "60 Minutes." Pressed on whether actions by his administration had created further instability in Iraq, Bush said, "Well, no question, decisions have made things unstable."
"I think history is going to look back and see a lot of ways we could have done things better. No question about it," he said in the interview, which will air tomorrow.
But Bush said he still believed he was right to topple Saddam Hussein.
On the troop increase, even many Democrats concede Congress has few options for halting Bush's strategy short of cutting off funds. Many lawmakers are wary of taking that step and Bush is moving quickly to put his plan in place. The first of five additional brigades was set to arrive in Baghdad within days. Other brigades will be sent in waves over the next few months.
Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. John Murtha, who heads a House panel overseeing defence spending, said he would try to attach restrictions to a $100 billion request for new war money Bush will send to Congress in February. The proposal might prohibit the use of the money for more troops or tie funding to the closure of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Bush said any consideration of stopping funds undercuts soldiers. "Our brave troops should not have to wonder if their leaders in Washington will give them what they need," he said.
But Walz, a veteran of an Army National Guard Unit whose soldiers were just notified of an extension of their tours in Iraq, said Congress owed it to the troops to challenge "the failed policies that have already cost us so dearly."
- REUTERS
