For the first time in American history the House of Representatives has
informed the military that it knows more than the Commander in Chief
about conducting a war. In doing so this Congress also has notified the
enemy in our ongoing war in Iraq when the enemy should expect us to
begin pulling out troops and precisely how many months it will take for
complete withdrawal.
If only the Congress had thought of this idea earlier - perhaps back in
1944 - we could have sent a telegram to the Germans that included the
D-Day schedule. This certainly would have saved the United States
Government a lot of money and saved the Nazis a lot of trouble!
The vote on the Conference Report for HR 1591, officially known as the
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill for the Fiscal Year Ending
September 30, 2007, was 218 -208 with only two Republicans voting with
the Democratic Majority. The Report contained many non-military
appropriations as well, but required all continued funding of the
military be linked to specific dates for withdrawal of our troops from
Iraq. This is the "hammer" the legislation intended to use against the
President because the Pentagon is literally out of money right now and
already has used up one supplemental appropriation.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-NV) has
changed his mind about this issue three times in the last six months.
Campaigning last November, he swore not to allow cutting off funds for
the military under any circumstance. Then he decided that it was okay
under certain conditions. Now he is threatening to present brand new
legislation which would completely end all funding for the War in Iraq.
Senator Reid also recently informed the American people (and our troops)
that "Winning the war is no longer the job of the U.S. military." Under
Reid's leadership, the Senate is expected to pass something similar to
the Conference Report passed last night in the House, possibly as early
as today, but both sides are aware that President George W. Bush has
promised to veto any legislation that includes a timeline for the Iraq
War as soon as the legislation gets to his desk.
General David Petraeus spent much of yesterday on Capitol Hill speaking
in closed session and trying to convince Members not to vote for the
bill. (Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-CA] was unavailable to meet with the
General but that should not come as a surprise.) Petraeus specifically
asked that Congress wait until July to judge whether the so-called "Surge Strategy" in Iraq was working before rushing ahead with legislation that included "a date certain" for withdrawal.