IRAQ:CUT OFF THE MONEY, END THE WAR!!

IRAQ:CUT OFF THE MONEY, END THE WAR!! | September 11, 2007

Democrats in the Congress look like they are ready to cave in to the PR push Bush has orchestrated with the appearance of Iraq commander General Patraeus [Betray-us]. Rather than show the backbone and resolve necessary to stand against continuing a war 65% of Americans think is worse now than before the “surge” [latest NY Times-CBS poll] the Democrats are headed on a course that will end with their compliance and a continuation of funding for the war.

A prime example comes from Delaware Senator Joe Biden this past Sunday on Meet the Press. In his interview Biden repeated his view that the situation in Iraq is worse now than before the surge, that the violence is worse and that what is need is a political solution, which his view is a “soft” partition of Iraq. Then he stuck his foot in it. After recounting several incidents of attacks on US soldiers he said:

I will vote, as long as there’s a single troop in there that we are taking out or maintaining, either way I will vote for the money necessary to protect them, period.

MR. RUSSERT: John Edwards, one of your opponents, says, “It’s time for Congress to stand its ground. If there’s no timetable, there’s no funding.”

SEN. BIDEN: Look, this my eighth trip to Iraq. I wish John were with me. I wish John and the rest of them had got inside that new Cougar and seen the looks on these kids faces and seen how they realized their lives are increased—lifespans increased by 80 percent if we continue to fund building these vehicles which cost billions of dollars to build. I am not going to fail to protect these kids as long as we have a single, solitary troop in Iraq.

{ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20676549/page/3/ }

What the Senator does not seem to “get” is that continuing the funding for the war is exactly what is killing both Iraqi’s and US soldiers [and civilians] .

Democrats rode to power last fall on a tidal wave of anti-war sentiment and with few exceptions they have at least the appearance of having turned their backs on those who most ardently worked to elect them. Congress controls the purse strings and that is the check on the executive branch that the Founders of this country intended to prevent the rise of an imperial and imperious Presidency. Bush cannot hold a “fund raiser” to pay for the war but the Congress has the power to “de-fund” it. Prominent Democrats, Biden included, argue that they do not have the votes to cut of the money. An article by Robert Parry in Consortium News points out:

However, that’s not really true. Since Bush needs an affirmative vote to get another blank check on the Iraq War, Democrats could block approval with their own Senate filibuster, requiring only 41 votes.

If the Democrats and a few anti-war Republicans would show as much determination as Bush has, they could confront Bush with the choice of either making some meaningful concessions or leaving the troops in Iraq unfunded.

{ http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/091007.html }

This is a critical period for the anti war movement, complacency is not on the agenda. It is extremely important that actions be taken now, before the Congress caves in to the Bush administration’s call for more money for a war that never should have happened in the first place. On Sept 12 Dean Lovelace will introduce a resolution to the Dayton City Commission calling for and end to war funding and ” further calling for the leaders in this country to reallocate the resources from the war in such a way as to make the problems of our cities a priority. ” The meeting is at 8:30 am at City Hall. If you wish to speak in favor of the resolution you MUST SIGN UP BY 8:15, according to the Commission’s stupid rules on public testimony.

The other critical action to take is contacting members of Congress and telling them it is time to cut off the money. Here are the direct links to reach Miami Valley/SW Ohio reps: the first telephone # is direct line, the 2nd is the fax line.

Representative David L. Hobson (R – 07)

202-225-4324

202-225-1984

http://www.house.gov/hobson/formmail.htm

Representative Jean Schmidt (R – 02)

202-225-3164

202-225-1992

http://www.house.gov/schmidt/contact.shtml

Representative Steve Chabot (R – 01)

202-225-2216

202-225-3012

http://www.house.gov/writerep/