Congress is set to debate the most feared oxymoron to the administration, a non-binding resolution. The resolution will express disapproval of Bush�s war escalation, and is set forth by the Democrats to be debated next week.

At a Pentagon news conference, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated: “It’s pretty clear that a resolution that in effect says that the general going out to take command of the arena shouldn’t have the resources he thinks he needs to be successful certainly emboldens the enemy and our adversaries.” Gates was referring to Lieutenant-General David Petraeus, who said he would need all 21,500 troops to achieve the impossible task of ending sectarian violence in Baghdad.

Rather than focus his attention on the inevitable failure of the plan itself, along with the failure of every decision �the Decider� has made, Secretary Gates took it upon himself to bash the resolution opposing Bush�s plan to escalate such failure. “I think it’s hard to measure that with any precision, but it seems pretty straightforward that any indication of flagging will in the United States gives encouragement to those folks,” Gates said. The new Secretary�s correlation between freedom of speech and treason is reminiscent of former Secretary Rumsfeld�s statement in August which compared critics of the administration to Nazi sympathizers. It’s good to see not much has changed.

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