Reid: Bush doesn't address war decisions

Published: April 10, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Reid, Pelosi discuss Iraq war in Washington

WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- Democratic leaders Thursday accused U.S. President George Bush of leaving decisions about ending the war in Iraq for his successor.

"He's leaving all the tough decisions ... to the next president of the United States," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, reacting to Bush's speech about troop levels and length of deployment in Iraq.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed, noting if Bush's economic policy remains as is, "he will be leaving a failed war policy and a failed economic policy at the doorstep of the next president."

Pelosi said she asked Bush in a letter what conditions would trigger troop withdrawals and asked about the general military readiness.

"We need answers from the commander in chief," she said, flanked by war veterans.

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Army Gen. David Petraeus assessed progress in Iraq for Congress. Petraeus recommended and Bush endorsed suspending troop withdrawals after the current drawdown ends in July.

Bush also said he directed that troop deployment drop from 15 months to 12 months, effective Aug. 1.

Regarding the lower deployment time, "I call upon (Bush) to allow us to codify this, make it the law of this country," Reid said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
UPI NewsTrack Sports (3 min)
NBA: Oklahoma City 102, Orlando 74 (20 min)
Kurt Busch wins Dickies 500 in Texas
NHL: Atlanta 3, St. Louis 2 (SO)
NFL: Seattle 32, Detroit 20
NFL: San Diego 21, New York Giants 20
NFL: Tennessee 34, San Francisco 27
fark
Investigative journalism class frees 11 innocent people from prison. So the prosecutor subpoenas...
Photoshop theme: Elderly superheros or supervillains
Suicidal, gold-medal winning, former Naval Academy water polo star plunges 212 feet off the GWB...
NY Times reporter tries to learn about Scientology by taking their free personality test. All goes...
A Woman and her two sons live in a rusty 1973 Suburban in Los Angeles. Fark: She's 97 and her sons...
Pro-rape group sets up pro-rape page on Facebook. They like pro-rape