Senate at odds with Arab states.

The U. S. Senate is scheduled to pass a resolution stating that Bush's "surge" is an "escalation" that is not in the National interest. This comes as Secretary of Defense, Bob Gates, is suggesting that he will urge Bush to "boost" the number of troops in Afganistan to fight a resurgent Al-Qaeda. Meanwhile, Condi Rice is stating that eight Arab Gulf countries - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt - support the additional troops in Iraq, though she cautioned that "[t]here are concerns about whether the Maliki government [in Iraq] is prepared to take an evenhanded, non-sectarian path [to ending the Iraqi violence].