Speaker Pelosi Responds to President Bush's Iraq Plan

Matthew Lee and Anne Flaherty, Associated Press - September 12, 2007

President will pull out 30,000 troops, but Democrat scoffs

President Bush will tell the nation Thursday evening that he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by as many as 30,000 by next summer.

Bush will endorse the recommendations of his top general and top diplomat in Iraq, following their appearance at hearings in Congress.

The president will say he understands Americans' deep concerns. Bush will continue by saying that, after hearing from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, he has decided to reduce the U.S. military presence but not abandon Iraq to chaos.

Bush will place more conditions on reductions than his general did, insisting that conditions on the ground must warrant cuts and that events could change the plan.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Bush appears poised to bring the country back to where it was before the election that put Democrats in control of Congress -- with 130,000 troops in Iraq. ''Please. It's an insult to the intelligence of the American people that that is a new direction in Iraq,'' she said.

GMA Exclusive: Interview With Nancy Pelosi

ABC News - Sept. 12, 2007

In an exclusive interview, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sat down with "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts on Capitol Hill to discuss the war in Iraq, America's shortcomings and what she plans to do to bring it all to a safe, swift end.

Pelosi stressed that a deployment of troops out of Iraq should happen as soon as possible.

"[The war] has been executed in a way that has not been worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform," she said.

It's time to bring them home because, if nothing else, it's what the American people want, she said, and she is prepared to hold President Bush accountable on their behalf.

Pelosi met with the president following Gen. David Petraeus' testimony on progress in Iraq, but they found little common ground.

"I am asking him to give an explanation to the American people as to why our country should be engaged in a war without end, at least a 10 year commitment in Iraq," Pelosi said.

It's an explanation, she said, the president owes the people as well as the government that follows him. "In terms of the war, it's clear that this president is going to leave this war into the hands of a new president," she said.

Pelosi's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq is decidedly different from the suggestions outlined in Petraeus' testimony regarding the end of the war.

"Gen. Petraeus made it clear the choice is for a responsible redeployment, drawing down of our forces out of Iraq in the near term for a 10-year or more commitment to a war without end. That's where he is. We are someplace else," Pelosi said.