Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

D.C. Highlights Murray and Cantwell: "No" to escalation

Looks like our U.S. senators are going to stick together. In fact, it seems to me that the Democratic Party is pretty united in opposing the escalation.
Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington State said Tuesday they oppose President Bush's plan to send thousands more U.S. troops to Iraq.

"The voters asked for a change of course in November. The generals asked for a change of course," Murray said at a Capitol news conference. "I do not believe escalating this war is a solution to the crisis facing Iraq today."

Cantwell, at a separate event later in the day, said the United States should focus on diplomatic and political solutions in Iraq - not an escalation of the war.

"To think we're going to control that (conflict) by sending more troops is not the right thing to do," Cantwell said.

A troop buildup might have worked a year or two ago, Cantwell said, but with sectarian militias now firmly established in Baghdad and other parts of the country, "I don't think 20,000 troops is going to stop that."
Bush can propose it, but escalation of the war isn't likely to happen. The public is opposed and so are congressional Democrats.

It's called the power of the purse.

We need to listen to our uniformed military commanders.

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