House Opens Iraq Debate

Vote Expected By Friday On Resolution Criticizing Bush Plan To Send More Troops

(CBS/AP)  The House of Representatives began an emotional debate Tuesday on whether President Bush's decision to add more U.S. troops to the nearly four-year-old war in Iraq is a mistake that has to be reversed.

Democrats won control of Congress in last November's elections and were determined to pass a resolution disapproving of the president's decision to deploy more than 20,000 additional combat troops.

"The American people have lost faith in President Bush's course of action in Iraq and they are demanding a new direction," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

All 435 members get five minutes each to have their say, and the resolution will likely pass by Friday, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson. The only real question is how many Republicans will vote for it.

The measure was nonbinding, but, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss, at no time in recent history has Congress formally voted "no confidence" in a president's military orders.

"No more blank checks for President Bush on Iraq," Pelosi declared.

Countered White House press secretary Tony Snow: "Members of the House and members of the Senate have the freedom to go ahead and write their resolutions and do what they want with them. The one thing we do expect is, we do expect those who say they're going to support the troops, to support them."

Republicans, in the minority for the first time in 12 years, issued emotional warnings of the consequences of undermining the president's policies in Iraq. "We will embolden terrorists in every corner in the world. We will give Iran free access to the Middle East," said Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio. "And who doesn't believe the terrorists will just follow our troops home?"

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Read the House resolution on Iraq

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Boehner teared up before reporters as he listened to Rep. Sam Johnson, a Republican, describe being a prisoner of war in Vietnam and learning of U.S. protests back home.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., insisted that the Democrats had no intention of impeding the mission of those in Iraq. "There will be no defunding of troops in the field. There will be no defunding which will cause any risk to the troops," he said at a news conference.

The House rejected, on a 227-197 vote, a Republican procedural attempt to force a vote on a proposal that would have barred Congress from cutting off funding for American troops in harm's way.

Democrats expressed confidence the measure would prevail and said they would attempt to use it as the opening move in a campaign to pressure Mr. Bush to change course and end U.S. military involvement in the war. More than 3,100 U.S. troops have died in nearly four years of fighting and so have tens of thousands of Iraqis.

A new CBS News poll shows that while most Americans (63 percent) are opposed to sending more troops to Iraq, they are evenly split over whether Congress should pass a nonbinding resolution against the president's plan: 44 percent said they'd like to see it passed, 45 percent are against it.

Senate efforts last week to debate Iraq foundered when Democrats and Republicans couldn't agree on what they would vote on, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tueday he still hoped to revive the issue and that the House language could be a model. "We support the troops, oppose the surge, perfect," Reid said, summarizing the House resolution.

In the House, Democrats called on several newcomers who served in the military to make their argument against further commitments in Iraq.

Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democrat and a captain in the Army's 82nd Airborne, said that "three years after I left Iraq, Americans are still running convoys up and down Ambush Alley and securing Iraqi street corners."

But Rep. David Dreier, a Republican, stressed that "we go to war to win, we go to war with a mission." He said "we dishonor the lives of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice if we in fact abandon that mission. .... We have a duty to pursue nothing less than victory."

Republicans conceded that the measure was headed for approval and said a few dozen party members were likely to break ranks and vote for it.

"The early line is that at a minimum, you'll get two dozen Republicans to go along with the Democrats in stating their disapproval of this action by the president to send more troops to Iraq. But even some Republicans are saying privately that they might get as many as 60," said CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer.

"Now, if that happens, that will mean by a margin of 2 to 1, the House of Representatives is telling the president that they do not approve of the plan," Schieffer said. "If that happens, I think it's going to be very difficult for the president to go forward with this because that will embolden Democrats and those who don't approve of the war to take stronger measures … moving toward finding ways to cut off funding."

[skyk-2009]

Americans like Bluestardad to pull his head out of his *ss and join the fight for freedom.
Posted by notblue at 01:51 PM : Feb 14, 2007


Which side are you on there sparky? The sunni's who had Saddam as a Leader or the Shiite who are allied with Iran? If we're fighting for freedom, exactly who's freedom would that be? ROFLMAO It's one thing to LIE like Bush but to just keep lapping it up and STILL claim to be an American? You just can't do that.

[skyk-2009]

notblue, after all we've been through and all we now know you loser's just keep up with the same tired old garbage. Isn't it time we listened to new faces, new voices in this fight. Anyone who thinks that these "Conservative's" have the answer are simply not very intelligent. We have people who KNOW how to defeat Religious Extremist and we have people who KNOW how to take about groups like Bin Ladens, they've done it right here in the good old USA. We have two choices here. Continue to believe the garbage put out by losers like notblue, to believe the complete and total misrepresentations of other American's or we can follow different voices. Those people who HAVE actually taken on and defeated Religious Extremist are LIBERAL folks, of this there is no doubt. Our kids are worn and wearing mighty thin, the Fascist refuse to notice this and their solution is to LOWER the standards of those who replace the dead and wounded. This is a path to distruction. We have NO friends left and we have NO allies, we're in this alone and we can not afford to continue the "Stay the Course" Policy. It isn't a question of IF we will follow other's it a question of WHEN. Will we realize these losers are just that LOSERS soon enough?

[david1737]

Bigwhtpony%u2026The statement that you make below establishes a corporate %u201Cconspiracy%u201D to influence the media:

"But, ask yourself why all the corporate giants are trying to divest themselves of these losers? Because people are leaving them in droves and they are losing money hand over fist. People are getting fed up with the bias......they just want the truth. As do I."

Posted by bigwhtpony

Corporate giants such Disney Corp. (ABC), GE (NBC), and of course News Corp. (FOX)? In the statement above you clearly state that the conspiracy is in fact on the part of the corporations/conservatives.

[formrusmcsgt]

One of the many dangers of the Bush Admins. International policy is the loss of credibility at home and abroad. After repeated lies the vast majority of Americans simply don't trust Bush.
Posted by david1737 at 03:51 PM : Feb 14, 2007

Unfortunately for us all, that perception is not limited to our geographic boundaries.....

[david1737]

One of the many dangers of the Bush Admins. International policy is the loss of credibility at home and abroad. After repeated lies the vast majority of Americans simply don't trust Bush.

[formrusmcsgt]

How can anyone conceivably beleive that pulling out of the middle east will bring an end to the problems related with it, these extremists will not stop period....
Posted by notblue at 01:51 PM : Feb 14, 2007

How can anyone be so naive as to believe that the U.S. is going to bring an end to centuries of religios hatred.......

[j-whitman]

Notblue,,, Uncle Sam is calling for volunteers,, Sign Up & learn something,, You'll get a signing bonus, an education, world travel, a uniform & a gun -- Be proud & part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

[getcentered]

ObservantX:

NICE POST!

What ever we do about Iraq at least the House of Reps understands that President Bush should not be making any more decisions.


notblue:
"join the fight for freedom."???
When are you signing up?
I get giddy when I hear Karl Rove talking point repeated so accurately!!

"CONTINUE pay the price, embolden them, destroy freedom agenda, fight for freedom."

[bluestardad]

You may have noticed the coming surge of American public opinion against using our military to promote the agenda of other Countries interest! American people are learning it is ok to disagree with a President who is friends of Saudi Arabia and gives them special treatment on the world stage at the expense of American lives. For years no one would say anything against promoting Israeli agenda for fear of being labeled an anti-Semitist but now America is learning it is also acceptable to disagree with Israeli promoters like AIPAC members, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and William Kristol of the Weekly Standard who would gladly sell thousands of American soldiers lives to promote Israeli interest! Now these same policies and neocons are pushing our soldiers toward another war in Iran. American military is made to protect American interest not the interest of other countries! Our blood and treasure should be spent only in American interest! The Statue of Liberty stands in New York Harbor not in the desert of the Middle East!

[notblue]

Bluestardad must oversimplify in order to justify his sophmoric and naive opinions. The truth is that what happens in the middle east directly affects America and if you don't attempt to stabilize it we will all CONTINUE pay the price. How can anyone conceivably beleive that pulling out of the middle east will bring an end to the problems related with it, these extremists will not stop period and leaving the fight will not only embolden them but it will enable them to continue with there destroy freedom agenda. It's time for Americans like Bluestardad to pull his head out of his *ss and join the fight for freedom.

[bluestardad]

It is ok to disagree with a president who is friends of Saudi Arabia and gives them special treatment on the world stage, it is also ok to disagree with Israeli promoters like Joe Liberman and William Kristol who would gladly sell thousands of American soldiers lives to promote Israeli interest! American military is made to protect American interest not the interest of other countries!

[bluestardad]

We must impeach Bush he is killing our country and if he starts a war with Iraq instead of diplomacy he should be beaten from office in discrace!

[clemenhagen1]

If you had asked Osama bin Laden for his best case scenario on the eve of 9-11, he would have drawn up a plan that President Bush has executed to perfection. Bumble into an ill-fated occupation of a sovereign Middle East country. Fan the flames of religious fanaticism on both the Christian and Islamic sides: a modern day crusade to borrow Bush's own ill-advised phrase. Our continued occupation of Iraq provides the ultimate victory for the terrorists. We provide them a perfect recruiting tool, not to mention handy target practice. We need to do the sensible and realistic thing: remove our troops to a centralized base (perhaps Kurd territory) and out of the middle of a civil war zone. We then need to employ thoughtful diplomatic and economic measures, as opposed to rash military operations. Bush and his crowd speak of victory, victory; to continue down the Bush path ensures only defeat. And an expensive one at that.

[bluestardad]

ObservantX; could not agree more thank you for the post!

[observantx]

Instead of killing Bin Laden, little Georgie and his Uncle Darth, went and kicked a hornets nest in Iraq unleashing a religious war between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam. They did this because they had absolute power. How did they get that power? Simple. Our rubberstamp Congress gave it to them by giving them authority to wage war whenever they felt like it with the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq.

How did that happen? Simple. They were stampeded by the neocon spin machine that peppered the media and Congress with falsehoods and manufactured intelligence about how Saddam had nukes and was responsible for the attack on 9/11. Season this toxic stew with questions about any critic%u2019s patriotism and devotion to Mom and apple pie. Add the festering side dish of the misnamed Patriot Act and we have the deplorable feast on the table before us.

Now we have our limp Congress blovating about this misdirected fiasco. This is blatant asscovering. The Republican controlled Koolaid Kongress was hypnotized by the Rovettes and now we have thousands of troops dead and thousands more maimed.

It is time to stop this kindergarten finger pointing and clean up this mess. Impeach the criminals that did this. Either pull out the troops or initiate the draft to go in with the Powell Doctrine and totally squash any militia or insurgent that so much as farts.

[scott4261]

Two things that come to mind with this so-called "war on terror":

1) Iraq had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with 9/11.

2) 15 of the 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia.

On #2: the last time I checked, the U.S. is still cozy with the Saudis. And why is that? Could it be that the Bush family has close ties to the bin Ladens and the Saudi royals? Could it be that they will help the U.S. take a larger share of the worlds oil?

Could it????

Wingnuts, enjoy your Kool-Aid.

[bluestardad]

mbcsmith; LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU TALK TO HALF A WOMAN BUT CAN DO NOTHING FOR HER, THEN COME BACK AND TELL ME WHAT WAR IS LIKE!

[bluestardad]

mbcsmith; No not french but my closeness to war makes me hate it!

[grumpas]

I would love to see Bush impeached and made to answer for his crimes against the American people and the world! He deserves nothing less than a jail cell! But, it's a sad fact of life! If he were impeached who would take over????? Cheney???? He is as bad if not worse than Bush! In fact, nothing short of cleaning house of the whole sorry Administration would work! That's never going to happen! So, I can see where Democrat's are not putting impeachment on the table! It's not realistic! It's due to our own stupidity (the American people) we are in this mess today! The American people had the perfect opportunity in 04 to get rid of Bush! But instead they put the sorry B...... right back into office! So, really we are ultimately the ones responsible for the looming disaster! I have doubts it will be one before he gets out of office!

[terrapin78]

IMO- the Iraq war, which I personally was against from first mention, as I grew up watching Vietnam.
Actually went OK at first, them Rummy said of the looting "That's what free people do" and the US never had control again. Iraq was a gross mis-use of our forces which has weakened the US.

Saddam was a master at deterrence. He made everyone think he still had Chem weapons but didn't. No one really wanted to mess with him. But Dumbya, doesn't understand deterrence. He lays down his hand (commits our troops to a conflict that is a lose-lose proposition) and says "Bring 'em on".

I used to think Daddy Bush made a mistake by not going into Iraq in '92, but I have changed my opinion. He was way smarter than his son.



So, now the Bush clan has lost al-Sadr.

Go figure.