Official: Bush to Admit Iraq Mistakes WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush will tell the nation Wednesday night that he should have sent more troops to Iraq to fight the war during the earlier stages of the nearly four-year conflict,...

Well, he did deliver that report to the UN; the White House mocked it at the time, but didn't it turn out to be, um, true?

Besides which, how could Saddam prove a negative? There are *still* people who think the WMD are in Syria or such.

The 2002 resolution was most definitely not a de-facto declaration of war. It was, paraphrased, “we authorize you to use the threat of force to make this guy live up to his obligations”.

Well, that's rich. So we were supposed to threaten him to get him to show that he didn't have WMDs, (which he refused to do -- claiming it while obstructing the inspectors doesn't qualify as "showing") and when he refused to do what he ... refused to do, we were supposed to do...what again?

Threaten him some more?

Yeah, that makes all kinds of sense. Only a Democrat-controlled Congress would have done such a thing.

Since, as it turned out, he was living up to the obligations we cared most about (not having WMDs), it's arguable whether it should even still be considered in effect at all, much less a de-facto open-end declaration of war.

But if you can't make the case that it is wrong well enough to get the votes to cut funding or impeach, then you need to step back and ask the question who benefits from trying to joggle the president's arm during a war. And if you are playing petty politics when such high stakes are on the table, is there any reason to wonder that calmer heads are starting to appear now that the democrats got what they asked for in gaining control of congress.

No they weren't, Wayne. In more conservative parts of the country the seats picked up by Democrats were mainly won by moderate-to-conservative candidates. However, they were still Democrats. The seats won in the Northeast and California were won by more liberal Democrats. Saying conservative Democrats won all the seats picked up is just conservative spin.

Are you attempting to make the argument that the elections were an endorsement of GWB's Iraq policy but people just decided they liked Democrats more for some reason? It's time for a change meant it's time to send more troops to Iraq?

Seems like a lot of Republicans, including the president, don't give a damn about election results or Baker Commissions or anything else. If thngs in Iraq in 2008 are the same or worse, it's look out below for Republicans.

Most of the pick-ups were from so call conservative Democrats.

800,000 Privileged Youths Enlist To Fight In Iraq

"They don't have these recruitment centers where I live," said Daniel Feldman, 26, who resides in the affluent neighborhood of Brookline, MA and recently passed his bar exam. "I didn't realize you could just sign up, but now that I do, all of my friends from law school, yoga class, and temple are going to join, too. And not the Reserves either. We're talking down and dirty, right on the front lines." * * *

U.S. Gen. John Abizaid, who has in the past argued against a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, now says that with the influx of nearly a million troops expected to be on the ground Feb. 1, the region should be stabilized within six weeks.

the people have spoken- wind down with what little honour

Uhh..nice try. The American people would never speak about "honour." What are you, Canadian?

Stop trying to speak for Americans--your weird spelling exposes you as an agent of a foreign government.

There is no winning to this war. America's involvement is over (put it in brackets- 2003-2006). The battle is now between Shia and Sunni. A Shia Saddam will appear (or has already, as many believe, in the shape of Muqtada al-Sadr) and the Sunni will be persecuted. To withdraw leaving millions of innocent Iraqis at the mercy of raging sectarian gangs is dishonourable and a disgrace. To continue sacrificing the lives of American soldiers for what can only be described as a face saving exercise for this president and his supporters, would be nothing short of criminal