President Bush on Tuesday denounced a day-old Democratic proposal to withdraw troops from Iraq as an “unforgivable mistake” that would guarantee failure.
“I’m disappointed that the Democratic leadership has chosen this course,” Bush told reporters on the South Lawn. “Instead of fashioning a bill I could sign, the Democratic leaders chose to further delay funding our troops, and they choose to make a political statement.”
Bush reiterated his vow to veto the bill, which would provide $100 billion for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus billions more in unrelated “pork” spending. The bill also orders the administration to begin withdrawing forces from Iraq by Oct. 1.
“A precipitous withdrawal would increase the probability that American troops would one day have to return to Iraq and confront an enemy that’s even more dangerous,” Bush said. “The price of giving up there would be paid in American lives for years to come. It would be an unforgivable mistake for leaders in Washington to allow politics and impatience to stand in the way of protecting the American people.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the danger to the American people comes from keeping troops in Iraq.
“While 10 more of our brave men and women died yesterday in one of the deadliest days of this war, President Bush continues to offer more of the same — a failed policy that has our troops mired in an open-ended civil war that risks our security at home,” the Nevada Democrat said.
Reid, who sparked controversy last week by declaring the “war is lost,” disputed Bush’s use of the phrase “precipitous withdrawal.”
“There is nothing precipitous about insisting that the president change course after more than four years of his failed policy,” Reid said.
Reid’s remarks prompted Vice President Dick Cheney to take the unusual step of making a statement to reporters during his weekly visit to Capitol Hill. He accused Reid of embracing “defeatism” in a ploy to curry favor with liberal voters.
“Senator Reid himself has said that the war in Iraq will bring his party more seats in the next election,” Cheney said. “It is cynical to declare that the war is lost because you believe it gives you political advantage.”
Sen. John Kerry called Cheney’s remarks “disingenuous.”
“The Cheney Doctrine has been a recipe for disaster in Iraq that has put American troops in unforgivable danger and made America less secure,” the Massachusetts Democrat said. “It is time for the vice president to return to his secure, undisclosed location to rejoin his neocon friends.”
