http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient&aq=iraq&ie=UTF-8&rls=HPIA,HPIA:2006-34,HPIA:en&q=iraq&oe=UTF-8&tab=wn&sa=N&start=10WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that a congressional resolution opposing President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq undercuts U.S. commanders and "emboldens the enemy."
He also said the Pentagon was now studying whether it could accelerate the deployment of the five additional Army brigades that it has announced will be sent to Baghdad between now and May to bolster security in the capital.
At his first Pentagon news conference since taking office Dec. 18, Gates was asked his reaction to the debate in Congress over the effect of such a nonbinding resolution. "It's pretty clear that a resolution that in effect says that the general going out to take command of the arena shouldn't have the resources he thinks he needs to be successful certainly emboldens the enemy and our adversaries," he said.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi "agrees with Senator Warner, who said, 'We're trying to exercise the fundamental responsibilities of our democracy' and how this nation has two co-equal branches of the government, each bearing its own responsibilities," said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for the California Democrat. She was referring to Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia.
An aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declined comment.