Article: Bush to US - Let me risk Your children to try to fix the un-fixable in Iraq

One of the many ironic twists to the Presidency of George W. Bush is that when he campaigned and came to power, many people thought he acted like "one of us", "a guy with whom we could go down to the local watering hole and have a beer".

These days, Bush is acting like anything but one of the people.

Like a feudal monarch, Bush is deepening our risk and commitment to war despite the fact that over 70% of the country disagrees with his actions and policies. Bush does not care what any of us think or want and in a further illustration of this, he engaged the troops immediately before the congress had the opportunity to advise and consent (or dissent) to his actions. Bush is acting not like a democratically elected leader responsible to the people but acting more like a King exercising what he believes to be divinely bestowed powers.

For its part, congress needs to accelerate its investigations into all aspects of the Iraq war and should add to its list why the President committed the extra troops to the surge before giving congress the opportunity to debate and vote on the subject. There is nothing going on in Iraq that will be different 7-10 days from now such that surging now vs. then would make a difference in the result. The entire point of escalating right away is due deny congress its proper role in the decision-making. Add that to the list of impeachable offenses congress is likely to find in its investigations.

Bush has given congress no choice. Congress can sit by and be irrelevant in the Iraq decision-making process for the near future, or they can start wielding the only weapon Bush has left available to them in the short term, the power of the purse.

I have resisted making a call to use the power of the purse before now. I thought that the Bush administration would exploit the propaganda value of such a tactic by saying Democrats do not support the troops. However, the entire country will understand that in the wake of Bush's ill advised and hastily executed rush to escalation, the Democrats must do what they can to ensure the American people's wants and desires on the subject are represented.

Bush's hasty surge puts to rest one of the post election 2006 fables, the idea that Bush was willing to work together with congressional Democrats. By working the Iraq war surge issue as he has Bush has illustrated he has no interest in doing so. To Bush, the Democratic congress is to be lied to, outmaneuvered, belittled and dismissed but they are never a partner or someone with whom to work.

The American people are tired of having Bush and the Republicans cavalierly risk the lives of over a hundred thousand of our young adults in Iraq. We are tired of having our young people come back in coffins. We are tired of having them psychologically damaged and their marriages destroyed. We are tired of Bush and Republicans being willing to risk the lives of other people's children without being willing to send their own.

The Democrats in congress need to take off the gloves and get tough and nasty with the President on Iraq, now!