President George W. Bush, facing sharp and widespread opposition to his plan to send more troops to Iraq, insisted Sunday that he had the authority to do so, even without the approval of Congress.
"I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it," he said in an interview with CBS airing Sunday. "But I've made my decision. And we're going forward."
Oh. Excuse me. Of course. If the President decides something, far be it from Congress to intervene. Thanks, Abraham Lincoln. Actually, I'm not entirely blaming Bush (or Lincoln) for this. I know that's surprising. But our Republican-controlled Congress has been hemming and hawing ever since 2003 about this "invasion," "occupation," or whatever we want to call it. Ron Paul made an excellent observation at the start of this whole mess that the last time Congress declared war was in WWII. Yet another way in which Iraq is more like Vietnam.
