{"id":1088,"date":"2007-01-11T09:01:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-11T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/n-m-delegation-divided-over-bushs-iraq-plan\/"},"modified":"2007-01-11T09:01:00","modified_gmt":"2007-01-11T15:01:00","slug":"n-m-delegation-divided-over-bushs-iraq-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/n-m-delegation-divided-over-bushs-iraq-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"N.M. delegation divided over Bush’s Iraq plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>President Bush announced Wednesday night his plan to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> despite widespread, bipartisan opposition from Congress and the American public. <\/p>\n

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

Bush called the current situation \u201cunacceptable,\u201d and said that, \u201cWhere mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Bush did call for the Iraqi government to take more responsibility, but didn\u2019t set in place anything that will force that, and the Iraqis have repeatedly ignored such requests.<\/p>\n

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

You can read Bush\u2019s entire speech by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Most of New Mexico<\/st1:state>\u2019s lawmakers in Washington<\/st1:city>, D.C.<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> \u2013 Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman and reps. Heather Wilson, a Republican, and Tom Udall, a Democrat, oppose the plan. Bingaman had this to say:<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019m very doubtful that the escalation of troops that the president has announced will achieve the long-term results we all desire,\u201d Bingaman said. \u201cWe have been told repeatedly by our military commanders that this is a problem that doesn\u2019t have a military solution. We need to be doing all that is possible that moves the political process forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Udall had even stronger words.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cEscalating our involvement in the war and the number of American troops on the ground does not guarantee progress in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> and sends precisely the wrong message to the Iraqis. Their government must take greater responsibility for their own security,\u201d Udall said in a news release. \u201cToday, our troops are caught in a civil war and this administration refuses to look to the only acceptable solution remaining \u2013 to begin the safe redeployment of our troops from Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Udall called for a political, not military, solution, noting that even many of Bush\u2019s generals have said that is the proper course.<\/p>\n

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

Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> didn\u2019t issue a statement following Bush\u2019s speech, but wrote a letter to him earlier this week saying she opposed the troop increase.<\/p>\n

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

Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> told the Albuquerque Journal<\/a> Wednesday night she was glad the president said Iraqis must lead, but added that she doubts a troop surge will accomplish that.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI am skeptical this strategy will work, but I hope I\u2019m wrong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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

Bush also has a couple of supporters in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> \u2013 Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Steve Pearce, both Republicans.<\/p>\n

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

Domenici, however, expressed skepticism in a statement.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe need a new strategy in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>, and I\u2019m willing to give the plan the president has outlined a chance. My support, however, is not unconditional,\u201d he said. \u201cMy support will be based on whether the Iraqi government will meet its obligations that are a part of this new plan. For instance, will the Iraqis field dependable brigades to secure their own country? Will the Iraqi government meet funding commitments for economic improvements in the region? Will Iraqi soldiers forcefully take on both the radical Shiite and Sunni elements? Will the Iraqi government commit to securing the Anbar province? Will other benchmarks set by the president be met?\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cAmerican involvement in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> cannot be open-ended or indefinite,\u201d Domenici said. \u201cIt is well past time for the Iraqis to live up to their commitments and responsibilities toward establishing a self-sufficient and stable government.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Pearce was the only one to express full support for the president\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe risks for not making it work are so extreme that we must,\u201d Pearce told the Journal. \u201cThe surge in troops is to stiffen the backbone of the Iraqi troops. Sometime in the near future, the Iraqi people will have to make the tough decision if they want this business of liberty badly enough to solve their own problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

That seemed to be the common theme: All agree that the Iraqis must take greater responsibility for their own destiny. Wilson<\/st1:city> opposes a troop increase in part because she believes American involvement is futile without it, and that stopping sectarian violence in Iraq<\/st1:country-region> is not critical to America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

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

Bush, an idealist, believed Iraqis, when given a chance at democracy and peace, would snatch it. That has not happened, and there is extreme division in the nation and within the Republican Party on what to do now.<\/p>\n

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

Gov. Bill Richardson issued this statement on Bush\u2019s plan:<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI strongly oppose any plan to increase American troop levels in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>. Sending more American troops will not make us safer. It will only add to the sectarian violence that is already tearing Iraq<\/st1:country-region> apart,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201cI am also very concerned with this plan\u2019s impact on our overburdened National Guard forces, which already compose half of our forces in Iraq<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe only surge we need in Iraq<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> is a diplomatic one. We need to withdraw American troops from Iraq<\/st1:country-region> this year, redeploy our men and women to Afghanistan<\/st1:country-region> and other international terrorism hotspots, and reinvigorate our diplomacy throughout the Middle East,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201cWe need a political solution to the Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> crisis, not a military one.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Bush announced Wednesday night his plan to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq despite widespread, bipartisan opposition from Congress and the American public. Bush called the current situation \u201cunacceptable,\u201d and said that, \u201cWhere mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me.\u201d Bush did call for the Iraqi government to take more responsibility, but […]<\/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-1088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1088","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=1088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1088\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}