Washington, DC:  Today, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee, responded to President Bush’s plan to overrule the advice of military leaders and increase troop levels in Iraq:

“Putting more of our overstretched military into Iraq for a risky bet on escalation is a profound error.  Adding over 20,000 more troops to the 132,000 we already have there is not just too little too late, it is pure folly.  Additional troops would have made a significant difference three years ago when Bush rejected the calculations of top military brass who said we would need 500,000 men and women on the ground to achieve post-conflict stability; but now this escalation will only deepen the current quagmire of a sectarian civil war. 

“After nearly three years of waiting for the Iraqi people to stand up so that we could stand down, it is time for the U.S. to begin standing down so that Iraq can assume responsibility for its own destiny.

“The President has said again and again that he will follow the advice of our military leaders in Iraq, but tonight he has thrown that pledge away.  Only the President and a few of his die-hard loyalists support escalating troop levels in Iraq instead of beginning to withdraw American troops.  This is no solution, the President is grasping at straws.”