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"Hawkish" Dem: Time To Cut And Run -- Part 3
(Continued from "Hawkish" Dem: Time To Cut And Run -- Part 2)
From today's Washington Times:
Pullout rejected 403-3
The House last night overwhelmingly voted down a resolution calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq, as Republicans tried to draw a line in the sand after a week's worth of back-and-forth charges over the war.
The resolution failed 403-3, with six voting present. Those voting for it were Democrats Cynthia A. McKinney of Georgia, Robert Wexler of Florida and Jose E. Serrano of New York.
Republican leaders wanted to force Democrats to take a stand on whether they endorsed Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. John P. Murtha's Thursday proposal to begin a six-month withdrawal from Iraq.
[...]
... Republicans countered with their own war hero, Rep. Sam Johnson of Texas, who spent years in a prisoner of war camp in Vietnam. He told of how POWs learned about the lack of support back home.
"I know what it does for morale, I know what it does for our mission, and so help me God I will never let our nation make that mistake again."
[...]
At one point during the debate, Rep. Jean Schmidt, Ohio Republican and the newest member of the House, said she had received a call from a veteran and member of Ohio's state legislature , who said to send a message to Mr. Murtha: "Cowards cut and run, and Marines never do."
[Read the whole thing here.]
From President Bush's recent Osan Air Base speech:
[...]
Our strategy can be summed up this way: As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down, and when our commanders on the ground tell me that Iraqi forces can defend their freedom, our troops will come home with the honor they have earned.
[...]
... In Washington, there are some who say that the sacrifice is too great, and they urge us to set a date for withdrawal before we have completed our mission. Those who are in the fight know better. One of our top commanders in Iraq, Major General William Webster, says that setting a deadline for our withdrawal from Iraq would be, "a recipe for disaster." General Webster is right. So long as I'm the Commander-in-Chief, our strategy in Iraq will be driven by the sober judgment of our military commanders on the ground. We will fight the terrorists in Iraq. We will stay in the fight until we have achieved the brave -- the victory that our brave troops have fought for.
[...]
We don't know the course our own struggle will take, or the sacrifices that might lie ahead. We do know, however, that the defense of freedom is worth our sacrifice. We know that the love of freedom is the mightiest force in history. And we do know the cause of freedom will once again prevail.
[Read the whole thing here.]
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John Hinderaker thinks the GOP leadership may have blown it by not calling a vote on the actual Murtha resolution. Click here and here. Dafydd ab Hugh explains here why what was done was exactly what needed doing. Other good posts on the matter: John Rosenberg, PoliPundit, Tom Bevan, Hugh Hewitt
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