House Rebukes Bush On Iraq

By 246-182, House Passes Nonbinding Resolution Criticizing Troop Buildup

(CBS/AP)  "Suppose you start to see signs of success," Snow told reporters before the vote. "Then, are these members going to come out and say 'We were wrong.' Are they going to have another resolution?"

What has the White House worried, Snow said, is that this resolution might lead to a binding measure to cut off funding or restrict deployments of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Friday's vote came at a time of growing public weariness over the war.

More than half of those surveyed say the Iraq war is a hopeless cause, according to an AP-Ipsos poll released Friday. A total of 38 percent wants to cut money for the additional troops that President Bush is sending to Iraq, and 29 percent want to cut off all funding for the war.

Their vote against the president's troop increase was purely symbolic, but Attkisson reports Democrats are now focusing on the next step: binding actions to halt the surge.

Rep. John Murtha, head of the powerful House committee that approves funding for the war, is the lead architect of the new plan.

"The real vote will come on this legislation I'm putting together," Murtha, D-Pa., said Thursday.

Murtha's legislation would set strict conditions on combat deployments, including a year rest between combat tours; ultimately, the congressman says, his measure would make it impossible for President Bush to maintain his planned deployment of a total of about 160,000 troops for months on end.

"If they can't extend people, if they can't send people back that don't have equipment and so forth, they can't continue the surge is what it amounts to," Murtha said.

Murtha's proposal also might block the funding of military operations inside Iran — a measure intended to send a signal to Mr. Bush that he will need Congress' blessing if he is planning another war.

"The president could veto it, but then he wouldn't have any money," Murtha told an anti-war group in an interview broadcast on movecongress.org.

In a speech Thursday, Mr. Bush said he expects Congress to live up to its promise to support the troops.

"We have a responsibility, Republicans and Democrats have a responsibility, to give our troops the resources they need to do their job and the flexibility they need to prevail," Mr. Bush said.

[htjr]

Since my original comment was too long I'll leave it at this.

The world has eyes and is laughing at us, we should laugh along with them because we voted for this abomination more than once.

[scott4261]

Ya know...I keep on hoping I will wake up and this whole presidency, from the Florida fiasco to 9/11 to the war to the s c r e w i n g of the poor - all of it - I keep hoping I will wake up from this BAD DREAM that never seems to end! These guys are pure evil and I just pray that our country and the world survive until they are out of office. Then, maybe - just maybe - we can save both.

[bluestardad]

If you like the Bush Surge this is for you!

http://www.carlosmencia.com/content/videos.php?id=66

[bluestardad]

Well Done House! Start Impeachment of Bush and Cheney now!

[j-whitman]

I see Bush got 2 moles removed from his head -- Cheney & Rumsfeild

[j-whitman]

Processor,,,, Since when is wanting to actually Support our Troops & discuss Bush's failed strategies a mental dissorder ?? -- Not doing so Hurts our Troops & Emboldens The Enemy.

[oldsailor3]

processor2

I always a wanted hero, you are the one

but if I consumed some of the same drugs as you take, then I could share this dream world that you seem to in

never-the-less, for sure you are my hero
the clouds are no stranger to you, sail on

[getcentered]

processor2:
libsarenuts:

BORING!

Liberals, Liberals, Liberals, Liberals.

In the next elections, I am a LIBERAL.
You know, in the way they say it on FOX NEWS.

I am to be hated, like the people on conservative radio want.

I'm not an American, unless I'm a Republican.

Funny how the Right Wing Media has made "Liberal", a bad word. I can just see the distaste in people every time they have to write the word or say it. How did this come to be?

Rush, Savage, Drudge, FOX, and the REAL PRESIDENT:
Karl ROVE.

We have been divided, sensationalized and exploited. Thanks Karl.

[hhusted]

libsarenuts and processor2, you are idiots in every since of the word. What planet do you live on. History proves that Democrats rule better than Republicans. Every moron knows that. I think you better craw out away from your momma's skirt and wake up to reality. As long as Democrats have control, we will have a better country. What Congress should do is impeach President Bush now and get rid of him so we can put Nancy there. At least she will do a much better job than Bush ever will.

[clemenhagen1]

Amen Dallison. The Republicans try to stake sole claim to the mantle of most patriotic, yet they demonstrate no clue about the nature of our constitional system. Go back and study even a little bit about the Founding Father's and you discover their almost pathological fear of unchecked executive power. In the initial (call it maiden voyage) attempt to create a system of government, the Articles of Confederation, they did not even create an executive branch. That proved impractical, so in Round 2, the current constitution created an executive significantly and repeatedly checked by the elected body of the people. Bush's cavalier attitude towards the constitutional rights of the people and his responsibility to answer to the legislative serves as the most significant threat to our system that I can remember in my lifetime. We do not elect emporers, though King Littlebritches and his crew of treasonous henchmen, obviously did not get the memo.