Troop surge announced
On Jan 10, 2007 President Bush announced by a television speech that he had ordered the deployment of 20,000 troops into Iraq while also extending the tours of most american troops already in Iraq. The 2007 Iraq troop surge was developed under the title “The New Way Forward.” President Bush stated the main objective for the troop surge was stated as support for a: “...unified, democratic federal Iraq that can govern itself, defend itself, and sustain itself, and is an ally in the War on Terror.” President Bush also stated that the reason for the surge was to buy time and improve conditions which would enable reconciliation among political and ethnic groups. Response to the announcement from the public was mainly negative with Bloomberg poll stated that 60% of americans disapproved of President Bush’s decision with 65 % of americans disapproving of how Bush has handled the war so far. Democratic politicians, including Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid and Dennis Kucinich called on Congress to reject the surge, while politicians such as: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, all voiced their discontent on Jan 13 with the course of events in Iraq. On Feb 13, 2007 Congress debated on whether to allow or block President Bush’s troop surge. After three days of debate Congress passed the House Concurrent Resolution 63 on a vote of 246 to 182. The resolution states that Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect the members of the United States Armed Forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in Iraq, and that Congress disapproves of the decision of President Bush announced on Jan 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq. Following the 2008 election, newly appointed President Obama "reluctantly" continued the surge, sending 20,000 troops until the US military agreed that the situation in Iraq had been turned around.