WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2006
Congress Ready For War Victory Party
Sets Aside $20 Million To Celebrate End Of Iraq, Afghan Wars
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Play CBS Video Video New Peace Plan For Iraq Iraq's prime minister says his government has a new plan for ending the violence between Sunnis and Shiites. As Charlie D'Agata reports, 11 more American troops have been killed.
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Video Iraq Funding Down The Drain? The CRS says the war in Iraq is now costing taxpayers $2 billion a week. But auditors say a lot of that money is being wasted. Chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan has more.
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Video Bush Hits Back At Iraq Critics Only On The Web: President Bush criticized Democrats for claiming that the war in Iraq was a mistake, accusing them of wanting to "cut and run." Jim Axelrod reports from the White House.
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(CBS/AP)
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Who's Who Iraq Insurgency More on the militant groups behind the insurgency in Iraq and their motivations.
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Interactive Iraq: 4 Years Later The conflict wears on as the nation struggles to rebuild.
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Interactive Attacks Map Details on the insurgency and terrorism that has continued to take lives since the fall of Saddam.
Lawmakers included language in this year's defense spending bill, approved last week, allowing them to spend the money. The funds for "commemoration of success" in Iraq and Afghanistan were originally tucked into last year's defense measure, but went unspent amid an uptick in violence in both countries that forced the Pentagon to extend tours of duty for thousands of troops.
Republicans have yet to claim responsibility for the provision. Democrats say it was likely added by the Senate's majority Republicans, and less than five weeks from congressional elections are pointing to it as another example of where the GOP has gone astray handling the war in Iraq.
"If the Bush administration is planning victory celebrations, Americans deserve to know what their plan is to get us to a victory in Iraq," said Rebecca Kirszner, spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Carolyn Weyforth, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said, "Republicans are confident we will be victorious in the ongoing war in terror, and we look forward to a time when those funds can be used to honor the men and women who have risked and given their lives."
Under the language, the president could "designate a day of celebration" to honor troops serving in the two wars. The president also could call on the nation "to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities" and issue awards to troops who have served honorably.
The Pentagon could spend up to $20 million of its $532 billion budget in 2007 for the commemoration, minus any private contributions it might receive for such an event.
The money will be available for the 2007 budget year, which began Oct. 1.
Some 140,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, with a drawdown not expected until at least early next year.
About 20,000 more are in Afghanistan. Last year, Bush administration and Pentagon officials had hoped thousands of troops could be brought home before the Nov. 7 elections.
Proclaiming victory in the Iraq war has already proven to be tricky business.
President Bush was slammed by critics for delivering his "Mission Accomplished" speech in May 2003 aboard an aircraft carrier. While troops had successfully stormed Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad, the fight over control in the nation against a violent insurgency had just begun.
Vice President Dick Cheney also was ridiculed for suggesting last year that the insurgency was in its "final throes."
By Anne Plummer Flaherty
©MMVI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 22 CommentsHow many text books it could buy for schools?
How many Americans could be helped in disasters like tornado's?
How many mouths it could feed in america?
But as usual it will go to celebrate and feed a bunch of rich old men who don't need it.
Vote these money grubing idiots out of office."
With regard to Alan Colmes. Please. Fox picked the dullest, most milqetoast stereotypical liberal pansy they could. Colmes is nothing but a professional whipping boy for Hannity. Hannity is a bully and Colmes is a pu$$y whose job is to roll over. He's the Washington Generals of Fox.
With regard to Clinton. Again, please. Clinton did not make Mark Foley chase after underage boys. Clinton did not make certain people cover for Mark Foley while he did it. Let's say for the sake of argument that That Ol'Debbil Bill Clinton did expose him, it doesn't change the fact that Mark Foley is a pedophile who chased young boys under his charge while he was being protected by various people.
What's wrong with a right-leaning station? Nothing, as long as they don't try to pass themselves off as "Fair and Balanced". It's a free country and we all have the right to free speech. The level of partisanship on Fox, however, much more blatant than any other outlet, including CNN and MSNBC. It's also a whole lot more intolerant of anyone else's views. Surely you won't try to compare Tim Russert to Sean Hannity. If I seem bitter here sometimes, it's because I'm sick of being labeled with the conservative epithet "liberal", or "moonbat", "defeatocrat" or even "traitor" by people like Hannity, Limbaugh and Coulter because I don't agree with everything that Bush wants to do. Is the intelligence or patriotism of conservatives constantly being questioned on CNN or MSNBC? So yes, I take what they say as an affront, as I'm sure it's meant to be.
May I suggest that you search for more than one angle on any given situation to try to find the centerpoint? Those who rely only on biased reporting from one side or another end up - guess what? - biased.
Oh, but Washington is all about victory parties? Sounds like dancing on the graves of our citizen soldiers.
How could they even consider 'setting aside'
money for a party when our brave men and
innocent Iraqi citizens are dying more and
more frequently.
The Republicans could have one of their
million dollar fundraisers to pay for 'victory
party' and have those they made wealthy from
this war for profit pay the bill.
How many text books it could buy for schools?
How many Americans could be helped in disasters like tornado's?
How many mouths it could feed in america?
But as usual it will go to celebrate and feed a bunch of rich old men who don't need it.
Vote these money grubing idiots out of office.
Victory?? What victory?? I guess Congress can celebrate victory if they define victory as there is a higher number of attacks every month. Or maybe Iraq being even further from stability now than ever. How about a victory celebration when the number of US dead reaches 3000?
This just proves that the Bush admin and the Rep party has no idea of what is happening in Iraq. They are still in dream mode back where Bush was declaring "Mission Accomplished".
We need a new leadership. One that faces reality and has answers for mistakes. Not one that believes what it wants to believe and if facts get in the way, oh well, we won't look at that.
I find your "shoot the messenger" philosophy entertaining, to say the least. The Repub-led Congress passes a bill containing 20M for a celebration that will never happen and you attack the Dems because it gets reported.
You obviously subscribe to a thought process that everything Repub is good and everything else is bad. It appears to me that you suffer from political myopia.....
"Ya know, I just love all this garbage thrown out a few weeks before an election. It's a *** shame that the left can't conduct a campagin based on relevent issues and policy. It's always smut."
You are right - it is smut - and the Right does their fair share of throwing it as well.
Just look at the smut king - Cheney.
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