Chicago Indymedia : http://chicago.indymedia.org/archive
Chicago Indymedia

LOCAL News :: International Relations

Durban on Iraq escalation: "The thought that we could stop this in its tracks I don't believe is practical."

Sen. Dick Durban (D-IL.), Senate Majority Whip, took questions after delivering the Democratic Party response to Bush's speech according to Lyn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Choice excerpts:

Q But Senator, isn't the argument that Democrats -- that you guys are making over and over again that the American people voted in November to send you here not just to debate, not just to talk, but actually to do something? And you have the power now, in some ways, to actually do something. So how will you use that, not just talk, not just debate, not just have a sense of the Congress or Senate resolution, but actually use your power?

Durbin.: There are limited opportunities for Congress to act. A commander in chief has extraordinary authority to move troops to certain places in the world, and the president's going to use that authority.

First we're going to bring before the Congress this question about the policy and try to have a bipartisan debate and a conclusion as to whether this policy is supported by Congress, and then watch for the reaction from the American people and from the president.

In the meantime there will be oversight by our committees. I won't rule out further action by Congress. I hope I've made it clear here and all of us have made clear that whatever action we take will not be at the expense of the safety of our troops that are in the field. But there may be a way to engage the White House on a policy debate at a new level past the first resolution.

Q But as a practical point, these brigades could be dispatched without -- (off mike).

Durbin.: Oh, yes. Yes.

Q And that's probably what's going to happen.

Durbin: That's right. And it probably will happen right away. Jack Reed, who, of course has some background on this, says it's likely that several thousand troops are going to move in a few days, and in maybe a week or two another thousand troops will move. So that's going to happen even while Congress is in the midst of this debate. The thought that we could stop this in its tracks I don't believe is practical.

Full story:
blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/01/dick_durbin_delivers_official.html
 
 

Donate

Views

Account Login

Media Centers

 

This site made manifest by dadaIMC software