Not One Dime Madame Speaker

 As Booman correctly noted, the country has had enough of George Bush's stubbornness with respect to the occupation of Iraq.  Acceptance of the ISG's recommendations was the administration's final opportunity to salvage what little support he retained, not only with the American public, but with elected officials in his own party.  

With the possibility that as few as 12 Republican Senators would support the President's decision to deploy additional troops to Baghdad,  aggressive action by the new Democratic majority to prevent the surge not only might succeed, but may accelerate the inevitable withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.

More below the flip.

While the withholding of funding for the continued occupation of Iraq has been bandied about as a possible solution to the President's refusal to listen to reason, the approach is politically risky and unlikely to be pursued, in my opinion.  It would provide the Administration with the new ammunition to support its charge that opponents of continued occupation don't support the troops.  I'm cynical enough to think that should this course be pursued, the President would refuse to withdraw and the administration would highlight the deaths of soldiers purportedly caused by the lack of funding.

But the surge is a different story altogether.  Should the Congress pass legislation to prevent ANY funds from being expended on the deployment of additional troops to Iraq, no harm would come to troops never deployed.  The political risks in withholding funding for the occupation as a whole are not present.

The Administration's reaction would be to 1) defy Congress and proceed with the deployment, 2) continue a military strategy which it has now conceded is ineffective, or 3) withdraw.  No matter which choice the President makes, we will be a step closer to the end of the occupation and on our way to Democratic control of the government.

Should the President choose to continue the current strategy without a surge, I submit that whatever support he has within his party will quickly evaporate.  He will be faced with intense pressure both from an increasingly united Congress and the American people to withdraw.  Moreover, the decision will be an albatross around the Republican nominee's neck come 2008.  Inevitably, political considerations will take precedence over Bush's hunger for a legacy and withdrawal will begin before the '08 election.

Should the President withdraw, the Democrats will have done what they were elected to do in this last cycle and will reap the benefits of the accomplishment in the next election cycle.

Should the President defy Congress, we have the basis for impeachment proceedings as the legislation withholding funds from the operation should provide for severe criminal penalties for diversion of funds towards the prohibited deployment.  

And so, when the President formally announces his intent to surge troops into Baghdad, the response from Congress should be NOT ONE DIME, Mr. President.