House Approves Bill with Iraq Withdrawal Deadline

by Jordan Yerman | March 23, 2007 at 09:48 am

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Bush will definitely veto any bill that challenges his course of action in Iraq, even though he has no clear condition for victory. Still, it's a step in the right direction, though it seems to take for granted that troops will remain in Iraq as long as Bush remains in office. I do not believe this should be a foregone conclusion.

The House of Representatives on Friday passed a spending bill that includes a firm deadline -- August 31, 2008 -- for combat troops to leave Iraq.

President Bush, who has already said he would veto the bill, was scheduled to make a statement at 1:45 p.m. ET.

The measure also is unlikely to pass the Senate.

Before the 218-212 vote, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told CNN that Democrats had the numbers to pass the bill.

To get the votes, the leadership had to win over anti-war Democrats who felt that the measure didn't go far enough.

But some of the war's most liberal critics said they weren't buying it.

"Four years ago we were told we had no alternative but to go to war. Now we're told we have no alternative but to continue to war for another year or two," Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said. "The fact of the matter is we do have alternatives."

Kucinich said, "Congress has the power to stop funding the war. That's what we should do. That's what we should have done and that's what I'm going to continue to work toward. We have to get out of Iraq, period."

"Support our troops" does NOT mean "My country right or wrong". It means treating those who would risk their lives for their country with the respect they deserve. Abandoning them in the desert on a pointless, protracted invasion that only benefits the already-rich is not really supportive, is it?