White House, Democrats step up words war on Iraq
Source: Reuters
By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Intensifying a war of words over a U.S. troop buildup in Iraq, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused President George W. Bush on Friday of playing politics with soldiers' lives, a charge the White House called "poisonous." "The president knows that because the troops are in harm's way that we won't cut off the resources," Pelosi, head of the Democratic-led House, told ABC's "Good Morning America. "That's why he's moving so quickly to put them in harm's way." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino fired back: "Questioning the president's motivations and suggesting that he for some political reason is rushing troops into harm's way is not appropriate, it is not correct and it is unfortunate." The exchange of bitter recriminations marked an escalation in the political fight over Bush's plan, unveiled last week to a skeptical U.S. public, to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq as part of a reworked war strategy. There are currently about 130,000 U.S. troops there. Newly empowered congressional Democrats pushing for a phased withdrawal from Iraq are gathering support even from within Bush's own Republican ranks for a nonbinding resolution opposing the troop increase. But most senior Democrats have stopped short of threatening to withhold funding, mindful that would allow the administration to accuse them of abandoning the troops as the 2008 presidential campaign gears up. Bush, faced with opinion polls showing Americans strongly opposed to a troop increase, is expected to defend his Iraq plan in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday. "HISTORIC BLUNDER" Pelosi, a California liberal who earlier this month became the first woman to lead the House, insisted on Friday that Democrats would never deny funding to U.S. forces in wartime. "But we will hold the president accountable," she said. "He has to answer for his war. He has dug a hole so deep he can't even see the light on this. It's a tragedy. It's a historic blunder." Asked whether she was accusing Bush of manipulating the timing of the new troop deployment to avoid congressional action, Pelosi hedged slightly on her initial charge. "I would certainly hope he didn't manipulate the timing of sending the troops in. I think he could have told us about it sooner," she said. The White House struck back at Pelosi for suggesting Bush had political motives for moving quickly on the troop increase. "Those particular comments were poisonous," Perino said. "Speaker Pelosi was arguing in essence that the president is putting young men and women in harm's way for tactical political reasons and she's questioning his motivations, rather than questioning his policies," she said. Perino maintained that Bush "is sending the troops to Iraq quickly because he wants to win." Pelosi and Bush had traded insults during the midterm election campaign that ended with Democrats winning control of Congress on Nov. 7 in a vote widely seen as a repudiation of the president's Iraq policy. Bush and Democratic leaders had then pledged a new tone of cooperation, but partisan battles have since grow increasingly shrill. (Additional reporting by Caren Bohan and Steve Holland)
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