On Monday, commenting on President Bush’s forthcoming long-term security guarantee to Iraq, top White House war adviser Douglas Lute said, “We don’t anticipate now that these negotiations will lead to the status of a formal treaty which would then bring us to formal negotiations or formal inputs from the Congress.” In other words, Bush can commit the U.S. to protecting the security of Iraq — including, as Lute said, enduring U.S. bases in Iraq and a residual troop presence — without Congressional approval. Can he?
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=179288