Amidst civil war and insurgent violence in Iraq, public opinion has turned strongly against President George W. Bush. A recent Gallup poll taken this month shows that 61 percent of Americans oppose the U.S. war with Iraq. The recent Democratic victory in both houses of Congress reflects the American people's discontent with how the Bush administration is handling the war in Iraq. President Bush's call to increase U.S. troop levels by 21,500 soldiers runs directly counter to American opinion. During yesterday's hearing of the Senate Judiciary committee, Democrats began laying the groundwork to block President Bush's plans to send more troops to Iraq and to maybe even force a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Setting aside political opinions of whether or not increasing or decreasing troop levels in Iraq would be better for the United States, the most important issue at stake is checks and balances: as laid out in the Constitution to allow the executive, legislative and judicial branches to limit one another's power. If the American people elected a Congress largely based on their dissatisfaction with the Bush administration's handling of the war, it is Congress' job to carry out the will of its constituents and to check the power of the executive branch.

Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution-Powers of Congress-explicitly gives Congress the power to "raise and support armies." In the case of Iraq, the Bush administration, especially Vice President Dick Cheney, has undermined Congress' authority on this issue by saying that Democrats are going to send U.S. troops into harm's way by taking away funding for training and equipment. Senator Russell Feingold, a Democrat from Wisconsin, acted as the chairman for the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing yesterday. He countered that his resolution, which according to Tuesday's New York Times would "end all financing for the deployment of American military forces in Iraq after six months," would "not hurt our troops in any way" because all troops would "continue to be paid, supplied, equipped and trained … just not in Iraq." Even so, the most important issue remains that the Bush administration is not omnipotent and cannot carry out a policy that is unpopular with the majority of Americans. Even Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said, "I would respectfully suggest to the president that he is not the sole decider ... The decider is a joint and shared responsibility."

Senator Specter gets to the heart of this issue. There is a constitutional quarrel between the Bush administration and Congress over who has the right to wage a continued war. President Bush had his chance from 2003 to 2006 to win the war in Iraq and to deliver on his promises to the American people. Since then, the Bush administration sunk the U.S. into an Iraqi quagmire, which created more terrorists and made the world a more dangerous place. The Bush administration's time is up, and the American people want a change. The system of checks and balances, which enabled President Bush to wage war against Saddam Hussein in 2003, when he had the American people's confidence, has come full circle against the president. Congress must carry out the will of the American people.

Mike is an economics major from Florida in the class of 2009. He has the reflexes of a cat and the speed of a mongoose.