Oceania Has Always Been At War With Eastasia

I think it is naive to believe that Congress can stop the President's plans for escalation, given that a) it's already in motion, and b) he's made it very clear over the years he does not believe in checks and balances (ie. warrantless wiretapping, etc). The latter point is a larger issue that still needs to be resolved-- and soon.

Still, they have options for now and they must try. They need to play this wisely, thoug. It looks like they will-

Rather than try to restrict funds for the troops (which he sees as a political blunder that would delight Republicans), [Rep.] Emanuel instead favors a proposal by Rep. John Murtha to set strict standards for readiness — which would make it hard to finance the troop surge in Iraq without beefing up the military as a whole. The idea is to position the Democrats as friends of the military, even as they denounce Bush's Iraq policy.

My hat is off to them; they've come a long way over the past few years.

The President and Vice President have, of course, responded with a sneer. "That fucking Congress thinks they can stop us?! Adorable!" They're making it clear that it's full steam ahead with Operation: Dig Ourselves Into A Deeper Hole... and also continued the subliminal marketing campaign for their desired war with Iran-

President Bush, facing opposition from both parties over his plan to send more troops to Iraq, said he has the authority to act no matter what Congress wants.

"I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I've made my decision. And we're going forward," Bush told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview to air Sunday night...

...Any attempts to block Bush's efforts would undermine the troops, [Vice President] Cheney said. He took particular aim at Democratic lawmakers who have blasted the president for increasing troops despite opposition from Congress, military advisers and a disgruntled electorate that in November ousted the GOP as the majority party on Capitol Hill.

"They have absolutely nothing to offer in its place," Cheney said of Democratic leaders. "I have yet to hear a coherent policy from the Democratic side."...

That's because you haven't been listening... Dick. Governing from a bunker must be fun.

More-

...The White House also said Sunday that Iranians are aiding the insurgency in Iraq and the U.S. has the authority to pursue them because they "put our people at risk."

"We are going to need to deal with what Iran is doing inside Iraq," national security adviser Stephen Hadley said.

Added Cheney: "Iran is fishing in troubled waters inside Iraq."...

....Hadley sidestepped a question about whether U.S. forces would move across the border to pursue Iranians who are helping Iraqi insurgents.

He said the priority "is what's going on inside Iraq. ... That's where we're going to deal with this problem."

Unspoken followup: 'For now'... The gang that cried wolf is, like, way serious now, though.

Finally, in related news, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki has been silent on all of this. Probably because he doesn't want to upset his political backers... and because he realizes at some level he is being set up as the fall-guy for the inevitable failure of this 'new' 'plan' (such as it is). Meanwhile, here at home, the President's approval ratings are going further down, as those of Congress are moving up. Can't imagine why.