WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that a congressional resolution opposing President Bush’s troop buildup in Iraq amounts to undercutting U.S. commanders in a way that “emboldens the enemy.”
He also said the Pentagon was now studying whether it could accelerate the deployment of the five additional Army brigades that it has announced will be sent to Baghdad between now and May to bolster security in the capital.
At his first Pentagon news conference since taking office Dec. 18, Gates was asked his reaction to the debate in Congress over the effect of such a nonbinding resolution. “It’s pretty clear that a resolution that in effect says that the general going out to take command of the arena shouldn’t have the resources he thinks he needs to be successful certainly emboldens the enemy and our adversaries,” he said.
The president, likewise, challenged skeptical lawmakers not to prematurely condemn his buildup. “I’m the decision-maker” about sending more troops to the war.
“I’ve picked the plan that I think is most likely to succeed,” Bush said in an Oval Office meeting with senior military advisers.
“I know there is skepticism and pessimism and that some are condemning a plan before it’s even had a chance to work,” he said. “They have an obligation and a serious responsibility, therefore, to put up their own plan as to what would work.”
There was no immediate reaction from the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was touring Iraq on Friday. An aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declined comment.
Gates talked to reporters as Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill prepared for the start of debate next week on the resolution of opposition to Bush’s decision to send an additional 21,500 U.S. forces into battle in war-torn Iraq. Reid said Friday that a quick test vote would likely be taken if Republicans try to delay or block the move.
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