- Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Monday, January 15, 2007
(01-15) 12:37 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, returning to her hometown of San Francisco, strongly warned today that President Bush "should not abuse his power" with regard to troop escalation in the Iraq war and said it is the duty of Congress to "exercise oversight over his power.''
"If the president doesn't have a plan, Democrats will hold him accountable," Pelosi said in her first public appearance outside Washington since her election as speaker Jan. 4.
Regarding Bush's decision to push ahead with an escalation of about 21,500 troops in Iraq, she said, "Congress also has its role, and neither of us should abuse our power.''
The speaker's remarks, before an enthusiastic audience of 1,000 at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast at the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco, came just one day after the president and Vice President Dick Cheney appeared on talk shows maintaining the administration would forge head with the troop escalation despite strong opposition from Democrats and some Republicans in Congress and in the face of overwhelming public sentiment against the plan.
Bush, appearing Sunday on "60 Minutes," was asked about the opposition of the Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.
"I fully understand they could try to stop me,'' he said. "But I've made my decision, and we're going forward. I'm not going to try to be popular and change principles to do so."
Cheney was even sharper, telling Fox News that "you cannot run a war by committee," and pointedly suggesting the Democrats don't have a plan for Iraq.
"We have a plan, and he knows it," Pelosi said today as she was mobbed by well-wishers following her keynote address at the 22nd annual holiday breakfast.
Pelosi, addressing the crowd on themes regarding King's life, raised the issue of Iraq repeatedly and noted that America's troops in Iraq have shown themselves to be brave heroes and an example the nation -- just as King had.
She said that in the last election, "the American people spoke out for change," and "nowhere was that voice more clear than in the war in Iraq.'' Today, "Democrats oppose the escalation of the war," she said to cheers. "Let me repeat that: Democrats oppose the escalation of the war.
"We have said to the president ... we want you to have a plan, and this is what we suggest," said Pelosi, "a redeployment of our troops out of Iraq" to help "make the region more stable and make America safer.''
More than 3,000 Americans have died in the war, she added, and "as the numbers grows so, too, does the need for a new direction.''
With the nation spending about $2 billion a week on the Iraq war, "the costs in the readiness of our military" are becoming unacceptable -- and possibly dangerous to the country's safety, Pelosi said.
"Our troops are being overused in Iraq," she said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Republican, appeared after Pelosi at San Francisco event and did not mention Iraq in his remarks, although this past weekend during appearances on talk shows he had supported the troop increase.
"We should give it everything in order to be victorious." Schwarzenegger said, adding that he does not want the U.S. to "pull out of this war as losers," because to do so would be "disastrous" for the region.
Schwarzenegger also repeated support for a "timeline" for U.S. troop withdrawals, saying that Iraqis have "got to be independent."
The California governor was greeted with a standing ovation, though there were scattered shouts of "Stop the War" as he took the podium.
E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com.
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/15/MNGLGNIVNT9.DTL
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