The rhetoric from the White House is mounting with accusations of "failing to fund the troops" aimed at Congressional Democrats. Congress has in fact voted to spend over a hundred billion dollars on the war. That appropriation includes modern body armor, better armored vehicles, and improved health care for returning veterans. To date the President has been given every cent he asked for, and then some. Bush's threatened veto of the current spending bill based on benchmarks for progress in Iraq is one more example of poor judgment on his part.
The President should heed the advice of his own Secretary of Defense. Robert Gates says benchmarks may actually encourage the Iraqi government to take more responsibility for its own defense. The President's approach is to continue the current failed policy. Why not give an alternative a chance to work? Congress has a clear mandate from the voters for just such a change of direction in Iraq. The President should not be insisting on yet another blank check, and support that alternative.
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