If you, like me, are not an early Sunday morning person and so missed Nancy Pelosi on Face the Nation, you can see the video over at Think Progress. [Update: Video of complete interview]
Madame Speaker again made the distinction between funding the troops that are already in Iraq and funding an escalation of the war. Speaker Pelosi announced that Bush is going to have to learn some new tricks, the decider is going to have to justify his "surge" or face Congressional refusal to fund an escalation of the perpetual war.
Think Progress:
SCHIEFFER: So, you’ve told him what you don’t want to do, and that is to expand the size of the force in Iraq even on a short-term basis. But what if he decides to do that? What will be your action then?
PELOSI: If the president chooses to escalate the war, in his budget request we want to see a distinction between what is there to support the troops who are there now. The American people and the Congress support those troops. We will not abandon them.
But if the president wants to add to this mission, he is going to have to justify it. And this is new for him because up until now the Republican Congress has given him a blank check with no oversight, no standards, no conditions. And we’ve gone into this situation, which is a war without end, which the American people have rejected.
And from Raw Story:
"This war cost a trillion dollars if it ended now," Pelosi said. "But more important than that, the lives lost, the casualties sustained, the lost reputation in the world, and the damage to our military readiness. For these and other reasons we have to say to the president, in your speech ... we want to see a plan in a new direction because the direction you've been taking us in has not been successful."
Politics News War Escalation Bush Iraq Surge Nancy Pelosi Congress