IPS on House vote: Iraq Withdrawal Tied to War Funding
- From: NY.Transfer.News@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: 24 Mar 2007 22:33:16 GMT
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
IPS on House vote: Iraq Withdrawal Tied to War Funding
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
InterPress Service - Mar 23, 2007
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37074
House Ties Iraq Withdrawal to War Funding
by Eli Clifton
WASHINGTON, Mar 23 (IPS) - The new Democratic-led U.S. House of
Representatives passed a 124-billion-dollar war spending bill with an
explicit deadline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, in one of the
most vocal challenges yet to the George W. Bush administration's policy
in the country.
The bill, which passed 218-212 -- mostly split along party lines --
requires that combat operations in Iraq conclude by Aug. 31, 2008.
Withdrawal could occur earlier if the Iraqi government does not follow
through on certain requirements for the ongoing U.S. occupation.
The House of Representatives' historic vote brings the first real
progress in changing the Bush administration's Iraq policy, which many
Democratic representatives believe is deeply flawed in its origins as
well as implementation.
"This is a major step forward for the effort to establish a new U.S.
policy," said Jim Cason, an analyst at the Friends Committee on
National Legislation (FCNL), a Quaker lobby group, in an interview with
IPS.
"The president's policy has failed and congress is saying they won't
provide further funding without a change in policy," he said.
Certain House democrats have been the main stumbling block to passing
the bill, with more liberal Democrats complaining that the legislation
would not initiate a withdrawal soon enough, leading to a split in the
Democratic base which became increasingly apparent yesterday.
Liberal democrats expressed dismay over being forced to vote for
increasing Iraq war spending in order to dictate a timeline for
withdrawal.
The bill was scheduled for a vote Thursday but members of the party's
anti-war caucus forced a postponement, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) held backroom meetings with liberal democrats, trying to ensure
at least an additional four votes.
Pelosi adopted tougher approaches to dissenting Democrats as the
scheduled vote grew closer, reportedly threatening Rep. Barbara Lee
(D-CA) that if she voted against the bill Pelosi would remove her from
her House Appropriations Committee seat.
"As someone who opposed this war from the beginning, I have voted
against every single penny for this war and found myself today in the
difficult position of having to choose between voting against funding
for the war or for establishing timelines to end it," said Lee.
Pelosi's threats were particularly aimed at representatives from
districts who believed their seats were secure and they could vote how
they pleased. Proponents of the bill made it clear that there would be
consequences for any Democrats who opposed the legislation.
"Rather than sending more troops into the chaos that is the Iraq civil
war, we must be focused on bringing the war to an end," said Pelosi on
the floor of the House.
Republicans remained almost completely unified in opposition to the
bill, claiming that the withdrawal deadline and conditions on continued
funding created a situation tantamount to declaring "defeat" in Iraq.
"I happen to believe the stakes in Iraq are too high, and the
sacrifices made by our military personnel and their families too great,
to be content with anything but success," said Republican Whip Roy
Blunt, a Republican from Missouri.
President Bush responded to the bill's passing this afternoon stating,
"(T)oday, a narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated
its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of
becoming law, and brings us no closer to getting our troops the
resources they need to do their job."
Language in the bill requiring benchmarks for progress in Iraq reflects
the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group (ISG) report which Bush
reportedly disregarded as a "flaming turd".
"This is an important marker that a majority in the House of
Representatives has endorsed Baker-Hamilton (the ISG Report)," said
Cason.
The bill marks the first time Congress has used its budgetary power to
attempt to force a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The same technique
was used successfully to force the withdrawal of U.S. troops from
Indochina in 1975.
Passing a similar bill in the Senate will prove significantly more
difficult because the Democratic leadership will need 60 votes to
prevail, a difficult requirement since it will necessitate a dozen
Republicans to cross party lines and vote with the Democratic majority.
The Senate appropriations committee has approved their version of the
bill -- which would suggest a Mar. 31, 2008 withdrawal goal -- but
Republicans have vowed to remove the withdrawal provisions when the
bill reaches the floor, possibly as soon as Mar. 26.
The White House has promised to veto the bill if it manages to pass in
the Senate.
"The president has made it clear he will do everything he can to
prevent congress, and the majority of people in this country, from
forcing him to abandon his failed policies in Iraq," said Cason.
Excluding the funds in the bill passed today, Congress has provided 350
billion dollars for the war in Iraq, according to the nonpartisan
Congressional Research Service.
More than 3,200 US troops have died in Iraq since the war began four
years ago in March 2003.
(END/2007)
*
================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Search Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/htdig/search.html
List Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
================================================================
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (FreeBSD)
iD8DBQFGBadKiz2i76ou9wQRAhV/AJwMchHZuFZDPR0oz6duImwu5+NtxwCfbOxl
dWF8TExJI69Q3mXFy1veXXY=
=9NNl
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
.
- Follow-Ups:
- IPS on House vote: Iraq Withdrawal Tied to War Funding (REPOST)
- From: NY . Transfer . News
- IPS on House vote: Iraq Withdrawal Tied to War Funding (REPOST)
- Prev by Date: Re: European reporter adds weight to the claim that Ahmadinejad was
- Next by Date: Re: European reporter adds weight to the claim that Ahmadinejad was US hostage captor
- Previous by thread: European reporter adds weight to the claim that Ahmadinejad was US hostage captor
- Next by thread: IPS on House vote: Iraq Withdrawal Tied to War Funding (REPOST)
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
|
