The Decider has yet to make his "decision" on whether or not to add troops to Iraq in a "surge" ... and appeared in front of the press at Crawford not allowing any questions.
It will probably not be until January 23 that The Decider will have held us off long enough so we don't realize how much opposition there is for the "surge".
We've now had information released that the late President Ford was opposed to the Iraq war in the first place and was opposed to the "surge" now. There is also news today that Secretary of Defense Gates is also against the "surge", but he has not made a public statement saying so.
Nancy Pelosi doesn't support the "surge":
There are no easy answers in Iraq, but there are wrong ones. I do not support increasing troop levels in Iraq to further the President's current failed course. Americans have called for a New Direction, but the President's press conference this morning showed that he has still not faced reality about Iraq and gave no indication that he is willing to make the changes needed to reverse this disastrous situation. There needs to be fundamental change in our Iraq policy and in the mission of our troop in order for events in Iraq to improve. Our troops should not be expected to be primarily responsible for dealing with sectarian violence associated with a civil war. As long as that remains their task, the situation in Iraq will remain grave.
... maybe she'll keep it from being funded and that will end it before it starts!
We got the military's position on the surge on NBC, according to Think Progress:
Last night on NBC Nightly News, Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski said that many military officials are "suspicious" of President Bush's announcement that he plans to increase the size of the armed forces. They believe that "he's dangling that offer out there in an effort to buy the military support for the option to surge additional American troops into Iraq as if it's some kind of tradeoff."
Miklaszewski added that military leaders are also still opposed to an increase in U.S. troops in Iraq, believing it would "be like throwing kerosene on a fire."
Arianna Huffington points out that "only 12% of Americans support this 'surge.'" I'm surprised it is that many.
And with all of this input around, The Decider is still deciding. I think he's deciding how to get what he wants... and never mind what everyone else, experts included, may think.
Under The LobsterScope