U.S. Democratic Senator Jack Reed says President Bush has failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war in Iraq or a convincing rationale to continue it.
Reed, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, delivered the Democratic response to President Bush's address to the nation on Iraq Thursday. Reed of Rhode Island said the president's plan to withdraw some U.S. troops from Iraq by December "does not amount to real change."
The senator said a troop "surge" ordered by the president earlier this year has failed to accomplish what Mr. Bush has previously said was the primary goal - to provide Iraqi leaders with the time to make political progress.
Reed said Democrats have put forth an alternate plan to responsibly and rapidly begin a reduction of U.S. troops from Iraq, and he urged the president to work with Congress on developing the plan.
