Today's Talking Point

The longer we follow the President's failed policies, the farther we will be from success. Democrats are working to send the President binding legislation that requires a new direction in Iraq and we are united in our effort to give our troops in Iraq the resources they need and a strategy worthy of their sacrifices.


IRAQ

Democrats are determined to making sure the troops have the resources they need - just like we demanded they have sufficient body armor, training and veterans' care.

This week's overwhelming violence in the most secure part of Iraq, the extension of active-duty troops' tours in Iraq to 15 months and the deployment of ill-equipped National Guard units are further examples that the President's strategy is not working.

But there is still a chance to change course - and we must change course. That is what we are offering in the supplemental - a chance to redeploy our troops out of a civil war and hold the Iraqis accountable for a political solution.

It is painfully clear to the American people, bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress, military experts and the Iraq Study Group that the only way to succeed is to give our troops a strategy their sacrifices deserve. The only one to whom this is not obvious is the President.

As the Secretary of Defense has said, the debate in Congress over a proposed timeline communicates the right message to the Iraqis.

The President should work with Congress to change course in Iraq, not threaten a veto that jeopardizes America's security, endangers a military that is already stretched too thin and keeps our troops policing an Iraqi civil war.


U.S. ATTORNEYS

Attorney General Gonzales had yet another opportunity yesterday to level with the American people about the Administration's politically motivated manipulation of the Justice Department. He did not. Instead, Gonzales repeatedly contradicted his own statements and his own staff's testimony.

Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress have recognized Gonzales has failed to be forthcoming about the firings. President Bush still supports Gonzalez, which tells us a lot about his regard for the facts and his standards for the judicial system.

The Bush Administration manipulated the criminal justice system for its own political gain. It ruined the careers of good prosecutors, interfered in the criminal justice process and then tried to cover it up when it got caught.

Democrats will stand up to the White House until the truth, the full truth and nothing but the truth emerges.

This is about accountability. The American people have a right to know whether its justice system acted unjustly and whether its leaders manipulated the criminal justice system for political gain.

Such political manipulation would cause Americans to lose faith in the justice system. The preservation of an independent judicial system depends on a full investigation of the facts.