Transcript from Crooks and Liars:
PELOSI: The letter that Senator Reid, Leader Reid, and I sent to the president is the most recent in a series of letters over the past many months asking to work together with him for a new direction in Iraq.
The American people have spoken very clearly on the subject the election, and my speech and the letter consistently say, Mr. President, we must make it clear to the Iraqi government that they are responsible for the security of the Iraqi people, that a plan—you must put forth a plan that indicates that to them, that also brings stability to the region and begins serious, responsible redeployment of our troops.
BOB SCHIEFFER: All right, well, Madam Speaker, second, what are you going to do if the president doesn’t take your advice? What if he does announce that he is going to expand the size of the force in Iraq , as many are suggesting he’s going to do?
PELOSI: Well, if the president chooses to escalate the war, which is contrary to, of course, the will of the American people—they have spoken on this subject—but even the advice of his own generals in December, General Abizaid testified before the Senate that in his conversations with General Dempsey and with General Casey, they believe that adding more troops will not improve the situation there.
And so he’s not listening to the generals, the president isn’t, and he’s not listening to the American people. We as their representatives are trying to engage in dialogue with the president to find some common ground to reach an end to this situation.
Now, let’s be positive about the president’s speech. We wrote this letter because we have heard that he is in consultation with his advisers about a course of action. And we wanted to indicate to him which course of action we could work together on.
SCHIEFFER: So, you’ve told him what you don’t want to do, and that is to expand the size of the force in Iraq even on a short-term basis. But what if he decides to do that? What will be your action then?
PELOSI: If the president chooses to escalate the war, in his budget request we want to see a distinction between what is there to support the troops who are there now. The American people and the Congress support those troops. We will not abandon them.
But if the president wants to add to this mission, he is going to have to justify it. And this is new for him because up until now the Republican Congress has given him a blank check with no oversight, no standards, no conditions.
PELOSI: And we’ve gone into this situation, which is a war without end, which the American people have rejected.
SCHIEFFER: Now, let me ask you, and make sure I understand exactly what you are saying because, up until now, Democrats have not been enthusiastic about using the ultimate weapon, and that is to cut off funding.
PELOSI: We won’t do that.
SCHIEFFER: But you will not vote any more money to expand the size of the force there?
Is that what you’re telling us?
PELOSI: I’m saying two things. We will always support the troops who are there. If the president wants to expand the mission, that’s a conversation he has to have with the Congress of the United States .
But that’s not a carte blanche, a blank check to him to do whatever he wishes there.
And I want to make a distinction here. Democrats do support increasing the size of the Army by 30,000, the Marines by 10,000 to make sure we’re able to protect the American people.
SCHIEFFER: Enlarging the services overall?
PELOSI: Overall, in order to protect the American people against any threats to our interests, wherever they may occur. That’s different, though, from adding troops to Iraq.
The president wants to escalate a war where his generals are telling him that the additional troops will not be effective, that they’re easily digestible, to have this number of troops go into Baghdad, and then again, ignoring the strong message of the American people.
SCHIEFFER: So at this point, the Democrats in Congress are not prepared to pay for or to fund an additional number of troops in Iraq?
PELOSI: We have to see what the president has to say. It’s not an open-ended commitment anymore. But we will always be there to protect our troops and to support our troops. The burden is on the president to justify any additional resources for a mission.
In our letter, we say to the president, as we have over and over again, you must change the mission to training, to fighting terrorism, to logistics and force protection instead of combat.
Our troops have done an excellent job. Every chance we get, we praise them for what they have done. But unless there’s a political and diplomatic solution to match their efforts, their hands are tied behind their backs in order to end this.
So the president is going to have to engage with Congress in the justification for any additional troops he may wish. But escalation of the war is opposed by the Democrats.
The Copenhagen Conundrum
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By Montie Shields USAF RET., January 10, 2007 at 4:01 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
I think someone need to have a talk with Nancy
Report thisPelosi. She said they would not go along with
Bush’s plan without justification. In the name
of common sense how do she think this Crazy
Creature can JUSTIFY ANYTHING? He listens to
nobody. Don’t someone think it’s about time he
is looked at as a mental case?
By Socrates, January 9, 2007 at 10:24 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Don’t misunderstand Nancy…I’m getting her loud and clear. She’s a lot more clever than you guys might think! If she said what everyone wanted to hear, then we’d just go back home, drink a beer, and chill out. But now is not the time for that…it is time for people to be out in the streets.
Besides, it is not proper for a Speaker to propagate absolutes, as some want her to do. That kind of BS was for the Republicans, but now we’re going back to a more civilized manner of governance. Welcome back!
Report thisBy Andy, January 9, 2007 at 6:37 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Whoa! Take it easy folks! Nancy just got that damned gavel a few days ago!
Look… I can appreciate everything you folks are saying. Nobody here is more against Bush and company and the Iraq war than I am… but ya gotta give a lady a chance!
The democrats CANNOT simply rip money away and appear as though they abandoned “our fighting boys”. You just can’t do it. This war belongs to Dubya! Let him go down with his troops!
Just this morning a new Zogby poll (or whoever) came out that says 61% of this country is against this war. Pelosi cannot…she CANNOT make it appear as though the dems are taking over this war. We don’t want it. Let Bush sink or swim. Then in 2008 this country will have had enough and vote in a new democratic sheriff. And there will be more democratic senators voted in.
I hate to sound callous…god knows I would go nuts if my kids were fighting in Iraq… but this war belongs to Dubya and the sooner it buries him the better it will be for this country. We cannot take control of this war.
Report thisBy louis stroud, January 9, 2007 at 6:05 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
if pelosi wants to supoport the troops in iraq, then why not send them all home? that is the best way of supoortiing them that i can think of.end the funding of the war, which is illegal, and is deserving of war crimes from the u.n., don’t dance with this fool in the white house, pull all the funding, do a resolution, that removes the authority to invade iraq, and then start the hearings, keep him busy defending all those lies,that we all believed, but no longer do.just do your job for the american people, that is what you are there for, thank you
louie stroud
Report thisBy George S Semsel, January 9, 2007 at 1:17 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
If Pelosi and her clan don’t take immediate and serious action to stop the outrageous actions of the president, including the illegal war he started, the Democrats will be demonstrating that they don’t give a hoot for the voting public which elected them. The voters made a very strong statement in November. It’s time these yahoos understand what they expect. The war must end now, and those who created it should pay for their crimes.
Report thisBy Freddie, January 9, 2007 at 2:00 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
I can’t stand her. She’s a snake. ANSWER THE FREAKING QUESTION! People like that reek of dishonesty. I hope she doesn’t embarrass us too much and cause any votes to go back to Republicans in ‘08.
Report thisBy Dan, January 8, 2007 at 6:48 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
She’s equivocating, because she knows that the American public is still dangerously under the sway of the lies of the Israel lobby. After all, a large number of Americans STILL believe that Saddam and Osama were working together, for example. She has to be careful.
I hope that her plan is to conduct an emergency educational cram session for the American people: get all these investigations going as soon and as thoroughly as possible.
In the process, much more stuff will be revealed about how Bush and his fellow pro-Israel fanatics lied us into this war, and how they are desperately trying to lie us into a new war against Iran.
The American people will FINALLY GET IT and demand not only that we get out of Iraq but that we stop threatening Iran - and put an end to our poisonous relationship with Israel. Then Pelosi will finally have the ammunition she needs to stand up and make the Israel lobby take NO for an answer.
Report thisBy Lance, January 8, 2007 at 12:02 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
I read the transcript. Where does Pelosi explicity say the Democrats will not fund an escalation of troop levels in Iraq?
Have I missed something here?
Report thisBy DennisD, January 8, 2007 at 2:07 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
“Pelosi maintained that the Dems have no intention of cutting off funds for the war in general”.
Report thisSo what’s changed? An empty skirt for the empty suit before her. We still have the best representation money can buy. I wonder what will pass for “justification” to add more troops. Maybe a call from Pat Robertson. Career politicians, no matter which party, are the reason for, not the solution to this country’s problems.
By Steve Kayser, January 8, 2007 at 12:14 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Why can’t any of those folks just answer questions without all the obfuscation - did she or din’t she say she would fund the truth? Only Her hairdresser knows—Bob Schieffer doesn’t
Report thisBy Gonnuts, January 7, 2007 at 11:54 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Here’s the funny part.
We’ve contaminated the Iraq environment with enough depleted uranium to make it uninhabitable for any form of life forever. At current pace a scorpion won’t survive. So, please tell us who’s going to go work to extract the oil when it would be a death sentence to anyone that breaths the air, uses the water or eats the food?
It gets even funnier.
Everyone deployed has been exposed and carried the contamination home to their wives, children or anyone they exchange fluids with. Cancer rates and birth defects are souring.
Now it gets hilarious.
bush wants to have more troops exposed.
Report thisBy Hank Van den Berg, January 7, 2007 at 11:53 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
So, Bush will do what he wants to do and the Democrats will not stop him.
Report thisI find it interestoing that Pelosi repeats the voters made it clear that they don’t want Bush to escalate the war in Iraq. I wish she would also understand that we voted for Democrats so that they would end the unjustified and counterproductive war in Iraq! Providing more money for this war makes no sense. We all know that there is more than enough money already allocated to bring the troops safely home.
By Lefty, January 7, 2007 at 11:20 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
I propose a relentless letter writing campaign to Ms. Pelosi demanding that she not only put impeachment back on the table, but that she do what it takes to make sure that the fascist interloper in the White House is, in fact, impeached. America cannot begin to heal with this cancer, this malignant tumor occupying the Presidency.
Who will take a shot at drafting a letter we all can use!
Report this