Speech reaction

‘Moving us in 10 months to where we were 10 months ago is not progress. It is the very definition of status quo. Not only is the president not offering us anything new; he’s insulting our intelligence.”

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.

‘President Bush understands that our most crucial objective in Iraq is to make sure it does not become a safe haven for al-Qaida and Jihadist terrorists. But that’s just what would happen if Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have their way. … This is progress, important progress.”

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

‘After an additional 30,000 troops and enormous sacrifice, we are back to where we were in June 2006. We have not made progress politically.”

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

‘Every day, our troops in Iraq demonstrate a heroic resolve to win. I wish Democrats in Washington would dedicate as much time and energy to winning as they do on how to surrender the fight.”

Ex-Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

‘The American people long ago lost faith in the president’s leadership of the war in Iraq because his rhetoric has never matched the reality on the ground. The choice is between a Democratic plan for responsible redeployment and the president’s plan for an endless war in Iraq.”

House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

‘The investment that we’re making today will be a small price if we’re able to stop al-Qaida here.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio

‘It is time to call this what it is — an exit strategy for President Bush at the expense of our troops. It’s the president’s plan to run out the clock on his failed policy, to move the goal posts once again, so that he can sneak out the backdoor and leave the American people holding the bag.”

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.

‘I think we’ve turned the corner in Iraq and are heading into a new place, and the president’s remarks tonight were certainly encouraging in that respect.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

‘When the surge finally ends next year, we will be right back where we started: with 130,000 Americans in Iraq, no lasting change on the ground and no end in sight. That is unconscionable. Pressing ahead with this war, in this way, will not make America safer.”

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.

From wire services