The House Democrats got big media publicity for a huff-and-puff committee session on global warming this week, yet no one seems to have noticed that on the hot-button issue of Iraq, the congress which has been clamoring for "oversight" opportunities wasn't as interested Wednesday morning:
Though all 435 members of the House were invited to participate in a classified briefing Wednesday morning providing an update on implementation of the president's surge strategy in Iraq, only about 25-30 members accepted the invitation.
The two-hour closed event at started at 8:00 a.m. EST. Members who attended told FOX News that the meeting was "helpful" and "useful" in that the officials essentially confirmed a lot of what has been reported publicly about the strategy.
Department of Defense Undersecretary for Policy Eric Edelman, who was testifying later in the day to the Senate Armed Services Committee on the troop surge, appeared with the directors of intelligence and operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a high ranking State Department official, for a closed-door briefing.
Freshman Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., said the briefing "cemented (his) conviction" that the president’s policy of "escalation" is the wrong answer for Iraq at this time. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., was guarded in answering questions about the details of the briefing but said the meeting was "informative" and members "were able to talk about strategy with people who really know what’s going on on the ground."
Hat tip: blackrain4xmas
