{"id":1082,"date":"2007-01-10T09:07:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-10T15:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/n-m-delegation-shares-views-on-bushs-iraq-plan\/"},"modified":"2007-01-10T09:07:00","modified_gmt":"2007-01-10T15:07:00","slug":"n-m-delegation-shares-views-on-bushs-iraq-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/n-m-delegation-shares-views-on-bushs-iraq-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"N.M. delegation shares views on Bush’s Iraq plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

\n

In case you missed the news, President Bush will address the nation at 7 p.m. mountain standard time today to announce a new strategy in Iraq<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> that includes an increase of 20,000 troops<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The move has become a focus of the new, Democratic-controlled Congress, and most Democrats, including Sen. Jeff Bingaman<\/a> and Rep. Tom Udall<\/a> of New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>, are expected to oppose it. Bingaman says Bush has not made the case for more troops.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

What do New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s Republican representatives and senator think of this? Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a>, who has been briefed on the new strategy, said it\u2019s much broader than a simple troop increase, and will more quickly push responsibility on Iraqis, but also said he hasn\u2019t yet decided whether to support it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI am very interested in learning more about the new strategy being developed by the president,\u201d Domenici said in a news release. \u201cI will have to study it before deciding how I would vote on the future of our American commitment in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>. I will listen carefully to better understand the Iraqi commitment to its own stability and defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a>, R-N.M., opposes Bush\u2019s plan. She has been a vocal critic this week of a troop increase, saying instead that the United States<\/st1:country-region> should not focus on creating a Democracy in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> \u2013 because that is the responsibility of Iraqis \u2013 and should instead aim to eliminate al-Qaida cells there.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a> has been silent. That\u2019s not unusual, as he puts out far fewer news releases and public statements than New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s other representatives. But he has been one of Bush\u2019s most ardent supporters. Expect him to support the president\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The reality is that Congress doesn\u2019t likely have any power to stop Bush from sending more troops, but the debate brings attention to his dreary approval rating and puts a lot of pressure on him to act appropriately. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In case you missed the news, President Bush will address the nation at 7 p.m. mountain standard time today to announce a new strategy in Iraq that includes an increase of 20,000 troops. The move has become a focus of the new, Democratic-controlled Congress, and most Democrats, including Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}