G. K. Butterfield: “last week, President Bush had a chance to change the direction of the war in Iraq, but he rejected it. He rejected a…”

“last week, President Bush had a chance to change the direction of the war in Iraq, but he rejected it. He rejected a plan that would finally hold the Iraqi Government accountable for meeting the benchmarks that he laid out earlier this year. According to the nonpartisan Brookings Institute, the Iraqi Government is failing to meet the political benchmarks they were supposed to make. By vetoing the bill, the President was condoning such inaction. The President claims the situation is getting better in Iraq. Wrong. April was the deadliest month of the year and one of the deadliest of the entire war. Retired General William Odom said last week, and I'm quoting, ``No effective strategy can be devised for the United States until it begins withdrawing its forces from Iraq. Only that step will break the paralysis that now confronts us.'' General Odom is correct. Today our troops are serving as referees in a deadly civil war that shows no end in sight. This Congress offered the President a dramatic change, and he rejected it. We're not going to give up, because ending this war is simply too important.”