Republicans Vote to Cut off Funding for Our Troops

Republicans Vote to Cut off Funding for Our Troops

By Cenk Uygur

Created Nov 15 2007 - 4:00pm

"I supported our original mission, which was humanitarian in nature and

limited in scope. I can no longer support a continued United States presence

.... because the nature of the mission is now unrealistic and because the

scope of our mission is now limitless. . . Mr. President, it is no small

feat for a superpower to accept setback on the world stage, but a step

backward is sometimes the wisest course. I believe that withdrawal is now

the more prudent option."

-- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) [1]

"I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is

often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning

that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague

objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions

are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is

no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no

contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There

is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation

defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic

plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no

plan today"

--Former Representative Tom DeLay (R-TX) [2]

Even President Bush agrees:

"I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as

to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn."

--George W. Bush [3]

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has even voted for withdrawal and

for cutting off funding. Wow, the Republicans have really done an about face

on timetable for withdrawals. These are some outstanding voices for a

reasonable exit strategy in Iraq!

Except as we know, these were not comments or votes on Iraq. They were

Republican statements on Somalia and Kosovo when Bill Clinton was Commander

in Chief. Apparently, it's okay to be for timetables, exit strategies,

withdrawal and cutting off funding for a war - as long as there is a

Democratic president!

There are a lot more Republican quotes where those came from. You can read

some more of the hypocritical comments here [4] and here [5]. You can read

John McCain and other Republicans clamor for an exit strategy out of Kosovo

here [6].

But what is most amazing is that Congress voted to cut off funding for our

effort in Somalia [7]- and no one brings this up. It's as if it never

happened. Now, everyone talks about cutting off funding for the war as if

this is the first time anyone has ever proposed the idea. Was the media born

yesterday?

Of course, Vietnam also ended when Congress cut off funding. Does no one

remember this? But I think Somalia is more instructive because a lot of the

same Republicans in Congress voted to cut off funding for our troops for

that conflict, but think it is treasonous when it comes to this one. Why

won't anyone point out this enormous hypocrisy?

By the way, look at the Tom DeLay quote again. He was insistent on timetable

for withdrawal a month into Kosovo. A month! The Iraq War has been going on

for over four and a half years now and the Democrats still can't muster up

the courage to demand a mandatory withdrawal. They are politely asking for a

voluntary withdrawal if the president is in the mood. Have two political

parties ever been so different before?

John Boehner is the House Republican leader now and he voted to impose a

timeline for withdrawal in Somalia, voted to move up the deadline for

removing our troops from that country and even voted to cut off all funding

to our troops in the field [8] in that conflict.

I'm sorry back then it was "cutting off funding for the war" and now it's

"cutting off funding for the troops." That framing is critical and it is a

distinction completely unsupported by the facts. Hello, Democrats, how about

you fight back against it?

The only Democratic senator I have seen who points this out is Senator

Feingold [9]. Why aren't the Democrats drilling these points home at every

opportunity as we debate whether we should set a timetable for withdrawal

from Iraq now? You don't think that it might be relevant that Republicans

loved timetables for withdrawal just a short time ago?

Every single interview with a Democrat should start with President Bush's

1999 quote from above and have the Democrat saying, "We agree with President

Bush that a timetable for withdrawal is critical." You are letting them get

away with astounding hypocrisy when you don't bring up their statements and

votes from a few, short years ago.

Meanwhile, does the press not have access to Google? Why don't they ever

question Republicans on their votes for withdrawal and cutting off funding

in Somalia?

By the way, the correct answer for the different votes is that different

situations call for different solutions. But that's not what the Republicans

are saying now. They are saying that cutting off funding for our troops is

never acceptable. That's the obvious lie that must be exposed.

Watch The Young Turks Here [10]

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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their

spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their

government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are

suffering deeply in spirit,

and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public

debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have

patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning

back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at

stake."

-Thomas Jefferson