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.
Though it was only recently, in January of 2007, that Petraeus was confirmed
unanimously by the United States Senate to command of U.S. troops in
Iraq, few on the Hill seem to want to listen to his advice. Politics is
more important.
An interesting feature of the Conference Report passed last evening is
the items it did contain: no money for the troops without a pullout
timetable but lots of earmarks. The House version of the Iraq funding
bill still includes most of the "pork barrel" spending that was in place
when it passed in the original form. (A conference report is the result
of differences between House and Senate legislation worked out and
brought back for a final vote.)
There remains $3.5 billion for
agricultural disaster relief, money for the Senate gift shop, salaries
for farm service workers and $650 million to bail out one State's poorly
run health insurance program for children - none of which has anything
to do with the military but much to do with the business of re-election.
An unfortunate precedent has been set for future administrations and
future military appropriations. Unofficially, there are plans already
underway for another appropriations bill in the House, where the process
will have to start all over again fairly soon but it is a sad day when
elected Representatives play political games with military funding and
our troops must hear about it on the battlefield.
It never should have come to this point. Now that it has, let the
vetoing begin.