Thwarted in efforts to bring troops home from Iraq, Senate Democrats on Monday helped pass a defense policy bill authorizing another $150 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 92-3 vote comes as the House planned to approve separate legislation Tuesday that requires President Bush to give Congress a plan for eventual troop withdrawals.
The developments underscored the difficulty facing Democrats in the Iraq debate: They lack the votes to pass legislation ordering troops home and are divided on whether to cut money for combat, despite a mandate by supporters to end the war.
They speak out against the war but they never fail to give George Bush all of the money he needs to continue the war. They talk about bringing our troops home but the three main Presidential candidates talk about leaving many of the troops there until 2013.
I know the Democrats are afraid that the Republicans will blame them for losing this war if they vote to cut funds, but I don't think they have really taken the temperature of the country lately.
Americans overwhelmingly want the troops out, and they want them out now!
"Eight days later, despite the warnings of Kucinich and 132 other members of the House whom he had managed to persuade to oppose this prelude to war, the majority of the House and the majority of the Senate gave the President the war powers he sought.
ReplyDeleteAmong those supporting the “Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002" were Senators Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, and Joe Biden, all of whom spoke forcefully in favor of the President’s strategy – all four of whom are now Democratic Presidential candidates. All four subsequently approved additional measures for supplemental appropriations to fund the war, as did Democratic Senator Barack Obama after he was elected to the Senate in 2004."
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