Democrats' NEW New Peacenik Position
Hatched by Dafydd
Ooh, this one is really good:
House Democratic leaders have coalesced around legislation that would require troops to come home from Iraq within six months if that country's leaders fail to meet promises to help reduce violence there, party officials said Thursday.
Let's see if I can unpack this: In other words, if al-Qaeda strikes, creating "violence" in Iraq... then under the newest Democratic proposal, our response would be to pull our troops out! That'll scare the robes off Mr. Masri.
"All right, young man, one more snotty remark about my driving and I'm going to stop this car right now, get out, and hand you the keys! Don't make me do it!"
The Democrats also tossed this into the bill, kind of offhandedly, as if it were no big deal:
The legislation also would require Bush to seek congressional approval for any military operations in Iran.
Think about that one: If Iran sent bombers into Iraq, and they directly attacked American troops then scurried back across the border -- we could not respond until we first got a congressional authorization for the use of military force... which of course would require: ....
Porking Up The War Bill
Ed Morrissey
I have questioned the use of supplemental appropriations to fund the Iraq war and the general war on terror for quite some time. That approach opens the funding process to even more shenanigans as the bills move through Congress, and it leaves the effort exposed to attacks from the anti-war Democrats, especially now that John Murtha controls defense spending in the House. The Democrats may have retreated on the latter issue for the moment, but Representatives have not lost their taste for pork:
As House Democrats wrangle over details of a $100 billion war spending bill -- including whether restrictions should be placed on troops sent to Iraq -- some members want to add significant money for agricultural relief, Hurricane Katrina reconstruction and other nonmilitary projects.
Rep. Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn.), who chairs the Agriculture Committee, said yesterday that rural states hit hard by floods, droughts and snowstorms in the past two years need $4 billion in emergency farm relief. And attaching the request to the war bill is the best way to insure they get it, he said. ...
The Democrats apparently have turned quite cynical about their anti-war passions. If they can't stop the war -- and the Republicans have made it clear that they will not allow it -- then they'll hijack the funding bills in order to get their pet projects funded.
No one can explain why they need to get supplemental funding for these requests anyway. They just finished putting together the spending bills for the budget. Why not include these requests in the normal budget? ...
