Posted on 11/19/2005 12:50:54 AM PST by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON - The House on Friday overwhelmingly rejected calls for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, a vote engineered by the Republicans that was intended to fail. Democrats derided the vote as a political stunt.
"Our troops have become the enemy. We need to change direction in Iraq," said Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a Democratic hawk whose call a day earlier for pulling out troops sparked a nasty, personal debate over the war.
The House voted 403-3 to reject a nonbinding resolution calling for an immediate troop withdrawal.
"We want to make sure that we support our troops that are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will not retreat," Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said as the GOP leadership pushed the issue to a vote over the protest of Democrats.
It was the second time in less than a week that President Bush's Iraq policy stirred heated debate in Congress. On Tuesday, the Senate defeated a Democratic push for Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal.
Murtha, a 73-year-old Marine veteran decorated for combat service in Vietnam, issued his call for a troop withdrawal at a news conference on Thursday. In little more than 24 hours, Hastert and Republicans decided to put the question to the House.
Democrats said it was a political move and quickly decided to vote against it in an attempt to drain it of significance.
"A disgrace," declared House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
"The rankest of politics and the absence of any sense of shame," added Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat.
Republicans hoped to place Democrats in an unappealing position - either supporting a withdrawal that critics said would be precipitous or opposing it and angering voters who want an end to the conflict. They also hoped the vote could restore GOP momentum on an issue - the war - that has seen plummeting public support in recent weeks.
Democrats claimed Republicans were changing the meaning of Murtha's withdrawal proposal. He has said a smooth withdrawal would take six months.
At one point in the emotional debate, Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, told of a phone call she received from a Marine colonel.
"He asked me to send Congress a message - stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message - that cowards cut and run, Marines never do," Schmidt said. Murtha is a 37-year Marine veteran.
Democrats booed and shouted her down - causing the House to come to a standstill.
Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., charged across the chamber's center aisle screaming that Republicans were making uncalled-for personal attacks.
"You guys are pathetic! Pathetic!" yelled Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass.
Democrats gave Murtha a standing ovation as he entered the chamber and took his customary corner seat.
The fireworks, as lawmakers rushed toward a two-week Thanksgiving break, came just days after the GOP-controlled Senate defeated a Democratic push for Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal. Spotlighting questions from both parties about the war, senators approved a statement that 2006 should be a significant year in which conditions are created for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Murtha has proposed his own resolution, which would force the president to withdraw the nearly 160,000 troops in Iraq "at the earliest practicable date." It would establish a quick-reaction force and a nearby presence of Marines in the region. It also said the U.S. must pursue stability in Iraq through diplomacy.
The Republican alternative simply said: "It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately."
"It's just heinous," Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., said of the Republican move.
"This is a personal attack on one of the best members, one of the most respected members of this House, and it is outrageous," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, however, said the resolution vote was not a stunt. "This is not an attack on an individual. This is a legitimate question."
"They've been itching for a fight for a long time," Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said of the Democrats.
Bush, traveling in Asia, also fired back at his critics, saying a troop withdrawal would be "a recipe for disaster."
Most Republicans oppose Murtha's call for withdrawal, and some Democrats also have been reluctant to back his position.
A growing number of House members and senators, looking ahead to off-year elections next November, are publicly worrying about a quagmire in Iraq. They have been staking out new positions on a war that is increasingly unpopular with the American public, has resulted in more than 2,000 U.S. military deaths and has cost more than $200 billion.
A U.S. field commander in Iraq countered the position of the congressman who usually backs the Pentagon.
"Here on the ground, our job is not done," said Col. James Brown, commander of the 56th Brigade Combat Team, when asked about Murtha's comments during a weekly briefing that American field commanders give to Pentagon reporters.
The dims can dish it out but can't take it. Ex presidents going overseas and cheap shotting the military and the president. Total wusses.
Finally! There was something on TV last night.
I remember Barry Goldwater was a staunch Conservative also until he grew old and became a staunch "Confusative".
I suggest that Murtha is suffering the same malady.
One simple question: If Clinton were President and we were fighting in Iraq, would Murtha and his merry band of Liberal pals be waving the white flag?
For some reason, I don't think DU is going to be very happy about this, LOL!
I filled up several days ago at 2.02. Now it is 1.99.
If McDermott won't even vote for withdrawal, that says a lot.
After watching Murtha yesterday, I came to the conclusion that his recent trip to Iraq has caused him to lose the last few marbles that the DemonRats aren't playing with already. I think that the emotional toll of seeing combat again, visiting Walter Reed has ripped his spine from him.
I don't question the man's service to this country and he has always been a hawk so something had to have changed. I really think he has just snapped. Unfortunately, the ghouls in the media and his party have seized on it, much like they did with that media whore Mother Sheehan.
How did Murtha vote?
How can we find out who voted for the pullout?
Did any Representatives abstain?
Answers to these questions will come in handy in the future.
And by the way, Murtha was not a hawk as he is represented to be by the "propaganda ministry of the insurgency" (old media).
From Newsmax:
In fact, Murtha began advocating a cut-and-run strategy way back in May 2004 - after U.S. forces had been in Iraq just a little more than a year.
You can get a Purple Heart for a sliver. In fact, if you get enough, you can go home. Ask John Kerry.
I believe he was in Korea too.
Was the coward Murtha one of the three or did he become a coward again?
I've never heard of Murtha either, but because of his opposition to the war the MSM now refers to him as a "well respected member of Congress." I wonder who coaxed Murtha to make his public announcement, that commie Nancy Pelosi?
Those who voted aye and present are members of the Democratic Socialists of America (Marxists) and the House Progressive Caucus (Marxist).
"Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., charged across the chamber's center aisle screaming that Republicans were making uncalled-for personal attacks."
Payback is hell ain't it Harold, you wussie!
Cynthia McKinney is a usual suspect, but at least she had the guts to actually vote "no". The "present" voters represent the worst of the worst of what is wrong with some of the folks in our government.
McKinney, Serrano, Wexler voted NO.
Capuano, Clay, Hinchey, McDermott, Nadler Owens voted PRESENT.
Beauprez, Berman, Boswell, Boyd, Camp, Cunningham, Davis (AL), Flake, Fossella, Gallegly, Hall, Jindal, Kind, LaHood, Miller, Gary, Moran (KS), Northup, Paul, Peterson (PA), Shadegg, Towns, Young (AK) were NOT VOTING
This is my first post after reading for months. So tell me if I don't do something right.
"Their problem, their nightmare, has been that the economy is roaring..."
This comment is so true. The democrats have a vested interest in things going badly. The sad thing is that many people start believing these things after they have been blindly repeated by CNN, etc. a thousand times.
$2.09 for a gallon of gas is pretty good. According to the Department of Energy's website, the price of a gallon of gas (nationwide average) as of 11-14-05 is $2.296. Stocks are at thier highest level in 4 1/2 years. The price of oil is at a 5-month low, and the GDP in the 3rd quarter was a VERY healthy 3.8%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unempoyment rate in September 2005 is lower than the average unemployment rate during all of the "golden" Clinton years (5.1% vs 5.2%). So what gives?
"...the Democrats have been left only with their old dependable fallback position of silently hoping like crazy for more and more filled U.S. military body-bags..."
Just like they were praying for more dead in New Orleans during Katrina. "More dead" translates into "Bush is stupid" in their minds.
"With tonight's vote, the Democrats' harping about the war will ring hollow."
Isn't this exactly the vote that the democrats wanted? They have been saying forever that the American people WANT us to pull out of Iraq. Now, when they get a chance to put their money where their mouth is, they balk.
The media breathlessly reported Congressman Murtha's comments as a call for "immediate" withdrawal. That includes the NYT and AlJazeera, which highlighted his comments on the front page.
How much do you want to bet that now the NYT tries to frame Murtha's comments as a "gradual" withdrawal? Or a withdrawal "over 6-months"? They will do this because they will want to paint the vote last night as not being on Murtha's proposal (as if HIS proposal would have been passed).
One thing I noticed is that the media did everything they could to NOT report the vote. The BBC, as far as I can tell, has NOTHING on their website about it, and CNN buried it in the side bar (with a story about Robert Blake as the main story), while CBS reported it as "House Rejects GOP Withdrawal Plan" (I paraphrased that since the headline is no longer up).
Well, this is my first post. I hope I did it right.
Jim in Chicago
:)
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