U.S. lawmakers hammer Bush's new Iraq plan
By Sue Pleming and Arshad Mohammed
2 hours, 10 minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070112/ts_nm/iraq_dcWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Thursday hammered President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, leaving the White House increasingly isolated over deepening American involvement in the unpopular war.
Some of Bush's fellow Republicans joined newly empowered Democrats in voicing skepticism that dispatching 21,500 extra troops to help Iraq's beleaguered government regain control of Baghdad would work.
American peace activists held the first of what they said would be thousands of protests, vowing to take to the airwaves and the Internet in a campaign to block the plan, which they said had fueled a fresh surge of anti-war sentiment.
A day after his televised White House speech announcing the plan, Bush told army personnel and their families in Fort Benning, Georgia, it was the "best chance of success" but would not have an immediate impact in quelling violence.
"Yet over time we can expect to see positive results and that would be the Iraqis chasing down the murderers," he said.
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