senators finally start growing some balls

Sept. 9, 2003 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional Democrats' support for President Bush's $87 billion request comes with a price: They want him to spell out details of his overall Iraq strategy.

For months, many Democrats and some Republicans have complained that the Bush administration has offered few details about how it will rebuild Iraq, how much international support can be expected, how much American taxpayers will have to pay over the years and how long U.S. troops will be based there.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., said he will offer an amendment to the Iraq spending bill that would bar money for relief and reconstruction until Bush officially reports to Congress on his Iraq strategy.

"The president owes our troops and their families a plan before we give the administration a blank check," Kennedy said in a written statement.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said Tuesday the Bush administration "did a miserable job of planning the post-Saddam Iraq" and "they treated many in the Congress, most of the Congress like a nuisance."

Answers "will be demanded," Hagel said Tuesday on CBS. Kennedy, also appearing on CBS's "The Early Show," said the best approach is to involve the United Nations and get additional troops from Muslim nations to offset the burden of American troops.