Enough Already, Just End This Damn War

Democrats are pushing forward with plans to include a withdrawal time line in the supplemental war funding bill despite a guaranteed veto threat from the president. Will the timetable stand, no, of course not. But the fact that the republicans have decided to not change the language of the bill speaks volumes to the confidence that bush's own party has in his leadership and his prosecution of the war. It also is a clear indication that they are ready to sacrifice the President to the inevitable public outcry.

Realistically though, the point of this whole exercise is purely political. Pelosi and Ried know that despite all the rhetoric they can't cut funds to the troops without major public backlash, so they at the very least must make it LOOK like they are doing something to end the war and hold the administration accountable. This bothers me. Anyone who knows me (or who as read this blog) is well aware of my political leanings and also knows that anything that makes bush look bad is like music to my ears. But ending the war is about ending needless death, reckless spending, and restoring credibility to our country's reputation. A political chess match is not what we need, we need real solutions to end this nightmare and not symbolic politics.

Do You Have The Time (Line)?

Surprisingly it looks like the spending bill on the war in Iraq will make it through with the time line in place. True to form Dubya has promised to veto anything that forces him to admit that Iraq is a never ending quagmire.

"President Bush accused congressional Democrats Wednesday of meddling in Iraq war policy and setting a deadline for a U.S. pullout that would have disastrous repercussions for both countries."

Please. Bush has no credibility to accuse anyone of creating a disastrous situation in Iraq. That responsibility lies solely with him. Congress has a responsibility to monitor and distribute tax payer money, they are not meddling, they are doing what they should have done years ago. No one in their right mind would keep paying for a plumber if he couldn't fix a leak, so why should tax payers keep paying for a foreign civil war that has destroyed America's military, popularity in the world, and made us less safe at home? Democrats (and a few republicans) have insisted that if Bush wants the money he is going to have to accept compromise and a time line. This of course prompted Bush's usual "they don't support the troops" rally cry which seems to finally be falling on deaf ears.

"Why doesn't he get real with what's going on with the world?" Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said after Bush's speech. "We're not holding up funding in Iraq and he knows that. Why doesn't he deal with the real issues facing the American people?"

Clearly he doesn't deal with the real issues facing the American people because that is not whose best interests he is concerned with, he is more concerned with his own. The election of 2006 was a mandate for Democrats. They won by listening to Americans and promised more oversight with regard to the war. Now they are actually living up to that promise, but Bush simply does not want to believe that he is wrong. He is.

There is no question that this war is a disaster and was a huge waste of life and treasure, it's nice to see that Congress finally has the juevos to says enough is enough. There is no way the bill can survive a veto, but at least it is a step in the right direction.