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Iraq Funding: What Should Congress Do?
Give President Bush $200 billion without conditions
2% (6 votes)
Give President Bush $200 billion but require him to bring all U.S. troops safely home within a year
3% (10 votes)
Give President Bush $50 billion to bring U.S. troops safely home within 6 Months
12% (45 votes)
Require President Bush to use existing funds to bring U.S. troops safely home within 6 months
83% (306 votes)
Total votes: 367
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Iraq funding
Ian Summers
Easton PA
Surely there are more choices. The closest I can come up with is to require the president to use existing funds and to get troops out of there in six months. Sadly it will not be safe. But it is safer than the other alternatives. And after the withdrawal is complete, the president needs to be arrested and tried for crimes against humanity among other things.
I agree completely, but
I agree completely, but let's not forget to arrest the dark prince, Cheney, and all of the other war mongers who helped and abetted Bush - Rice, Rumsfeld, et al.
Solution is going arund through Barack and Web
Some REpublicans too, are on the band wagon to get out before the election comes up.
Here's the solutions I suggested. I hope it a good one to you guys, Ian and Bob Fertik.
With the first redeployment, send 2 Kurdish, 2 Sunni, 2 Shia battallions with the deployed troops, and train the Iraqi troops right here stateside to see how our democracy works and to unite them in battle against Al Queida.
When the troops are trained, approx. 2 - 3 months send them back with any new recruits we have that voluteered. This will increase the Iraqi forces threefold. and enable them to protect their own women and children from the civil war.
If this is done over the course of the next few months. We could have six battallions for every two US redeployed home stateside. this will enable us to claim the victory of training the defense for Iraq, preventing genocide by the US, that these war hungry politicians keep complaining about.
As the Iraqi forces increase add more US redeployment battallions with six battallions each time.
We stand down as they stand up, right?
We can have them home by Fully by June 08 with 18 battallions of new fierce Iraqi Defense Force.
Now I'm no strategist, but it makes sense to train enough Iraqi's to defend themselves and their country.
These drafted or volunteer Iraqi Forces can be found at the refugee camps, and cities that are still in turmoil. It gives them the power to govern and frees us from being the referee and judge on who to shoot next.
mommapanther
Choices
There are only two choices that can be viably accomplished. Give the president what he wants because he does not need to and will not sign anything else into law or don't vote to fund the war at all! That means the only way to bring the troops home is the fourth choice. Congress does not need to have a vote on funding.
Funding
Congress is terrified that it would look as if they were "Not supporting the troops"..propaganda which Bush uses successfully will be making people angry. Congress MUST get it that we will stand up to this bogus ploy of the GOP. Their use of terror tactics on the american people has been helping them get their way all along. Congress is afraid it will appear they do not "support the troops" They must get past the idea that we, the people will assume this, if they do as we ask.. We have to convince them to listen to the people not the Bush propaganda machine.
Iraq Funding: What Should Congress Do?
The Democrats should not even allow the additional spending bill come to the floor of the House or Senate. The government then can't spend anything on "Bush's War".
STOP GIVING HIM MONEY!
STOP GIVING HIM MONEY!
Very good point!!
I agree,Bush(and Cheney)Cannot be Trusted!Traitors! I voted No money...a bunch of Criminals!
Solution to end the Iraq War
The only way to end the civil war in Iraq is to eliminate the distrust and revenge attitude between the four religious groups. Require a change in the Iraq Constitution to the following: Make four (4) separate ruling bodies in parliament with 15 members each: 1. Sheites, 2. Sunnis 3. Kurds 4. Christians With each body having veto power in the event the Prime Minister gives an order or a law is proposed that would be detrimental to either group. Please do a pole on this suggestion and attempt to get Congress to force this to happen.
Solution to end the Iraq War
The only solution to the problem of civil war, that would be an acceptable one, is indeed a political one. I see one major problem with your idea, the veto power of every group. Nothing would get accomplished with the current distrust among the groups. Are there enough Christians in Iraq to warrant there own ruling body with equal power?
Scrub the House-Republican or Democrat
I personally want to be the first to contribute to MOVEON.ORG's movement to start removing any (Dem or Rep) member of Congress who continues to support the idiot in total contrast to 93% of America. It ain't a chappy game anymore folks - and I personally I'm fed up w/being treated like a brainless toy who pays taxes. Obama in '08!!!
Yes!!!
Exactly,clean of All political parasites...that is,the dirty ones!
Right ON!
I recently volunteered and took part in a town hall meeting with Barack O'bama. He has the diplomacy that our current administration lacks! O'bama has a plan for getting our troops out that makes sense. He also lends his attention to domestic issues that require prompt attention. So much has been focused on the war and spent on the war, that we are slashing our budgets for healthcare, education, infrastructure!! He has does not look past this. I will continue to educate those that don't know and convince those who are still in denial!!
O'bama '08!!!
Welcome to Democrats.com, Kelley!
Welcome to Democrats.com, Kelley. Hope you'll take a look around at all the links: forums, blogs, news, books, events calendar & more!
Obama
We've already suffered through with a president who has no experience, with all respect we must have one who knows how to get things done and who already has the respect in congress to get things done. Chriss Dodd of CT has served in the foreign relations committee for years and too many other positions to list here...,. He is one of the few who says, "he wants our troops home the day he is in office"..unlike Hillary who says, "Well, I don't know what I'll find once I get there"..another words, Hillary IS NOT going to do anything except support cronies who benefit from war. We can't go w/Obama yet, he needs more experience, They'll chew him up in Washington, We need someone with the experience to handle congress and ALSO SOMEONE WHO DOES FOREIGN RELATIONS, so we finally have a diplomate for peace..and Obama "ain't it yet"..Dodd in 2008..Let's at least check out his site folks..
Iraq Funding: What Should Congress Do?
We also need to cancel ALL NO-BID contracts and have them get their employees out of there. Most of the contractors have lied to our government and cheated the taxpayers out of billions of dollars. We should stop ALL PAYMENTS to them immediately.
Haliburton and KBR, can afford to send the mercenaries home
Get our boys home who have been protecting these murdrous bunch of crooks.
Our boys who are fighting for the freedom of Iraq, not the contractors stealing the tax dollars of hard working Americans.
mommapanther
Bring Troops Home Now!
Enough already! King George is breaking the army, bankrupting the treasury, making more enemies the world over every day. It would be an act of treasonous complicity if the Congress does not show some courage and act in the name of the Republic. The founders rejected empire for a democratic republic. We are losing that vision, and as FDR and JFK were fond of quoting: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." Well, we sure as hell are perishing, as Harry Truman might have put it.
Iraq Funding: What Should Congress Do?
Although I agree with the premise of withdrawing the troops, arbitrary time tables, such as six months, a year, nine months, or 57.5 weeks aren't a sound approach. Have him direct that the troops be withdrawn, give them a two-year window and stress that the withdrawal be done in a manner consistent with safe military tactics. Tell the Commanders in the field to begin withdrawal - they don't want to be there any more than we want them there, but they're in a much better position then we are in determing how fast they can safely extract the troops. Although the Democrats may have a majority in both houses, they can't override a veto, and so they must work through consensus. Achieve the achievable, don't push for what can't be accomplished now.
What can Congress do?
I agree completely. President Bush does not intend to remove the combat forces before his term is over. A concensus that can override a veto is the only option
Iraq
Now is the time to declare victory and leave--like we left Vietnam. Enough lives and money to justify King George's insane antics and desperate desire to secure oil reserves for our selfish ways.
No more money for international crime!
Let's see...the Bush 'war' was founded on lies, in violation of international law, and only distracted from Bush's continuing failure to apprehend the criminals behind the 9/11 attack. Despite billions of dollars, unprecedented debt, and longer U.S. military involvement than in World War II, there is still no functioning government in Iraq or Afghanistan, no safety for Iraqis or Afghanis, hundreds of thousands of civilians dead and maimed, millions of refugees who have fled to countries that can't care for them, billions in arms and cash 'disappeared,' no reliable power, no clean water, no functioning infrastructure, no functioning oil commerce, criminal negligence and outright murder committed by US mercenaries, catastrophic injuries and irreversible psychological damage to US military personnel, environmental disaster including spent nuclear "hardened" ammunition causing birth defects for the next tens of thousands of years. The corrupt Bush puppet governments are collapsing. Afghanistan is back in Taliban control with a record crop of heroin. Musharraf is another endangered dictator about to be toppled in Pakistan. American government operatives are kidnapping and torturing innocent people, desecrating the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Department of Homeland Security gets an F from the Government Accountability Office. The United States is more bitterly divided and in deeper debt than ever before, our ports and nuclear power plants and chemical hazards are less secure than they were in 2001, US NUCLEAR BOMBS are "MISTAKENLY" flown across country by the Air Force MOUNTED ON THE WINGS OF AMERICAN BOMBERS, Bush and Cheney are threating to nuke Iran because they might want nuclear weapons, and Osama Bin Laden is still making threatening videos. By all means give Bush more money with no restrictions. He's done so well so far...
A Beautiful Summary
Miversion, Please send this summary to Nancy Pelosi and the rest of Congress. Put this way, it is scary enough to make even them take notice. Stuff happens one at a time for Congress. It's easy for them to dismiss past occurances in their haste to support the administration on current events. This is evident in their reluctance to impeach Bush, Cheney, et all. Giving them the benefit of doubt, perhaps they don't have the "big picture'.
I will send it to my Congressmen and woman. If we all did the same we would know they were inormed. It would be worth it just to read their replies. What the hell could they say?? Marianne
No more money, no more war
http://www.capwiz.com/now/issues/alert/?alertid=10267531&type=CO
NOW alert to Congress - no more money, no more war
Hoping that the Iraqi people will forgive us...
Like criminals, we invaded Iraq by misleading the American people and now, there's absolutely no way that we can ever justify our criminal action and our continued presence there. We must leave Iraq immediately and let its neighbors help it out of the mess that we caused. That's the only moral thing that we can do. I just hope that the Iraqi people and God will forgive us for what we did.
Iraq funding
The people of Iraq want us gone..and we want to be gone. The only thing to do is push Congress or take them out of office..Not one more good thing will happen if we stay, more innocent people will die, theirs and ours... Halliburton and Blackwater run country with Bush and Cheney This is their own hired killer army with no rules but to kill..It's criminal.. Did you know hundreds a millions of our tax dollars were given out in Gov. Contracts and a lot of the work will never be done in Iraq because it's "too dangerous".. There is 0 over sight on this money right now in congress, and there should be, and there must be or we'll be broken as a nation. There is talk in congress now about oversight.. What are they afraid of? Does Bush have something on these Congressmmen to blackmail them, or what? I guess being in total control of IRS, CIA and FBI Bush can learn and use anything to "get anyone" to do his bidding.
Nancy and Harry need a spine transplant
The people want to end the war now. What dont they get about it. Get some spine.
TRANSPLANT............NOT!
They don't need a spine transplant.............all these two major idiots need to do is get
their heads out of their asses and START LISTENING TO US!!!!!!!!!!!
END THE WAR NOW
Cut off all its funding. Make Halliburton and Blackwater pay for the troop withdrawal as part of their settlement for the war crimes trials that should then follow.
Ageed!
Halliburton sifted off $22 billion. That would be nice to get back. No more money until the war profiteers pay for the withdrawal. Then we need a legal bid process to help rebuild that which we destroyed. Removing the 12 planned US military bases for Iraq will help defray the cost of the reconstruction. We need to be 'all the way out".
March for Peace on the 15th!
http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_homepage
Timothy A Heberling "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Benjamin Franklin, Address to the Pennsylvania Assembly, November 11, 1755
No more money
Bush should not be given any more money and the troops should be brought home now!
AMEN!
Not another penny to that "Crook!"
We want to stop the war, not
We want to stop the war, not postpone its ending. Stop giving him money and he will have to bring them home. He is too stubborn to ever give up that it is a losing situation. bhubbard2
A FIFTH option
Require Bush to bring home ALL the troops today; give him only enough money to pay for his own one-way (coach class) ticket to Iraq.
FIGHT ON TO VICTORY
REMINDER- The Terrorists started the war, they attacked our homeland not once but twice.
DECLARATION OF WAR- Bin Laden Quote- "By God’s grace, we have formed with many other Islamic groups and organizations and organizations in the Islamic world a front, called the International Islamic Front, to do jihad against the Crusaders and the Jews. And by God’s grace, the men reacted to this call and they are going on this path and they are doing a good job. By God’s will there actions are going to have a successful result in killing Americans and getting rid of them."
OUR RESPONSE- Defeat the terrorists before they defeat us !!!
The only problem with your
The only problem with your flag-waving "patriotic" stance, is that OSB was not in Iraq. There were no "terrorists" in Iraq until the madmen in the BA invaded a soverign nation. Iraq did not have any WMD, and neither does OSB. The majority of the "terrorists" who attacked the USA were from Saudi Arabia, and none were from Iraq. OSB is from Saudi Arabia -- big oil, big money.
It is gullible people like you, that have swallowed the neocons' PNAC "fear bait" hook, line, and sinker, who are helping Dubya and Cheney to carry out this atrocity against the Iraqi people and our own troops. We are NOT fighting "terrorists" in Iraq -- we are fighting the Iraqi people, who are in turn fighting each other due to a power vacuum caused by our illegal invasion of their country.
All that we have accomplished in Iraq, is to bring about a Civil War in a country that was NOT a fundamentalist Islamic State (nor a breeding ground for "terrorists") but is now likely to become one due to the ineptness and greed of the current corrupt administration.
And finally, how in the hell do you define "victory" in no-win disasters like Iraq and Vietnam?
re: fight on to victory
Define "victory" and define the "enemy". The BushCo War profiteers need their boogey men. They don't really want to get the "terrorists" but they exploit terrorism so gullible tough-guys like yourself can vicariously kick-butt (Bush term).
If you are so tough, why don't YOU join the military?
Afarid you'll become just another exploited soul like Tilman?
BushCo has squandered nearly a TRILLION dollars in this phony W-ar when all the associated costs, bribes, "incentives" and no-bid contracts are added up.
Yeah, rah-rah. Go team America. Get the "evil-doers". Whatever it costs, kick-butt. Six years and no Osama. Oh yeah, Bush said in 2003 OBL was "irrelevent" and that he didn't spend anytime thinking about him. You are a sucker.
Bullpuckey.
So we attack Iraq which had nothing to do with terrorist actions in our country. What's up with that? Actually 17 of the 19 plane hijackers were Saudi Arabians. The Bin Laden's Saudi Arabian family has been long-term friends of the Bush family. All members of the Bin Laden family were flown out of the U.S. immediately after the 9/11 attack. And isn't it ridiculous that Bin Laden, Superman that he is, just can't be found. Does he have invisibility powers? Or is it that, as Bush said, "Bin Laden is no longer a threat." Believe me, if we wanted to find him, we would have long ago.
The 'fight against terror' makes as much sense as a fight against anger, or a fight against bad guys. Anyone can be the enemy. In fact all of us must be considered possible terrorists since we can be searched, imprisoned, or tortured without recourse to our Constitutional rights. How did WE become the bad guys? Wait until next year when you have to accept the computer-chipped National ID card. All kinds of info about you will be accessable by the government. And they'll know where to find you. No driver's license, bank account, nor can you go into any government building without it. And I'm sure you'll support the card to 'fight terrorism'. The only problem is YOU will now be suspect because you wrote in to Democrats.com. If you think I'm being trite, think again. During the Vietnam war, J. Edgar's FBI had a file on me because I was a member of "Another Mother For Peace!" whose slogan was: War is Not Healthy for Children or Other Living Things. Our government considered this subversive!!
Never underestimate our government's ability to squash legal protest, infringe on our Constitutional rights, and to make your life a living hell if they so choose (read up on the IRS excesses). They can tap your phone now for corresponding with this left-wing website. They are defeating everyone BUT the "terrorists!'
Sorry,you are brainwashed.
Re:Fight on To Victory:It is called Propaganda.A form of mindcontrol.Government channels this trash via media,advertising,etc.Was used in Nazi Germany,Hitlers reign.Basically,tell the masses what they want to hear,even what's best for them.Especially if the end result is to Enslave them,completely.Hard to believe?,google it...even Library of Congress.Education is the best Defence.Good Luck!....oh yeah,also twisting of information or facts.
Fight to victory
My question to you than is - Why are we not even trying to "Fight to victory?" Why are we no longer even pretending to search for Bin Laden when Bush claimed after 911 that - "We know it was Bin Laden, 100%?" How did our military responce to 9-11 turn into a "Freedom war for Iraq" which had no ties to 911 at all (other than Sadam used to try (brutely) to keep Bin Laden and his group OUT of Iraq being afraid of them.
I agree with you, "The terrorists started the war". So why are we mired down in Iraq instead of globaly fighting the Terrorists?
There have been so many lies from this current Whitehouse I dont know how anyone can continue to beleive them. Dave Jung
Fight to Victory?
There can never be a victory in Iraq and Bush doesn't care. Regardless, we did "win" once Saddam was gone, job ended, but Bush's cronies need war dollars to be richer..so as long as their is instilled fear they'll keep it up..
Read Bob Woodwards book. "Plan of Attack"..see that Bush intended to invade Iraq BEFORE he was ever "elected"..(personally I think he stole the office w/the help of Diebold voting machines one of his largest contributor) in 2000! Before there was a reason to invade anyone he "needed to become a war president to be re-elected"..and Karl R. told him.."The quickest way to do this is to invade Iraq".. They were looking for an excuse and Cheney made Bush do a lot of things he's done, because Cheney wanted war too, period..( Halliburton)
. Cheney IS running this mess. He just had Scooter Libby, who did not testify against him pardoned??? This seems unjust and in some way tampering with a witness. (telling Scooter to shut up and he'd get pardoned)... Bush isn't going after BinLaden, they are friends and the BinLaden family was the ONLY people allowed to leave on 9/11 while no other plane was allowed to fly, "for their safety"..( gee wonder why)..while not even a heart transplant could fly that day, Bush allowed the BinLaden family to fly away..This, to me, is traitorous. But then, Bush's crimes against this country and his shredding of our Constitution is and should be enough to impeach him. All I can think of is the Congresspersons who do vote with him, are either morons or these people are truly too stupid to be allowed in office. This Congress must be recalled by the people who elected them. It CAN be done. We need signatures, this will scare the rest to get in line..We already "won" this "conflict" but they never had an exit plan, because they never plan to exit. Congress must step up or step down. Period!
What Shoul Congress Do?
Vote the money to allow a proper conclusion of this misbegatten war, but condition it to Bush resignations that will allow Congress to appoint a temporary Commander in Chief, (yes, in such a situation, Congress can do it and Chaney need not assume the Command)
It makes no sense to continue to financially support
a situation created by people with poor judgment based on an agenda known only to them with consequences not acceptable to the majority of the people.
Congress should neither "negotiate" promises they know Mr. Bush does not intend to keep and let the responsibility of his refusal fall on him.
Erica 26
What should Congress do?
Get some BACKBONE,NO 'MORE MONEY' until our TROOPS have started HOME,REMOVE any SENATORS and REPS. WHO SUPPORT this WAR(it is a 'NO' WINNER). It is time to DO THE RIGHT THING(take care of your own,FIRST!
This administration has again painted itself into...
a corner from which there is no escape. Matter of fact, the entire Repugnant party has done this again in lockstep.
The Dems, our so-called leadership, have opted to take a long walk on a short pier.
Both sides have chosen how they are going to respond to what is happening.
Really sad for all concerned.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
What Should Congress Do?
First, can they do anything without neo-nazi approval? If they can follow these recommendations, then follow them. If not, the entire congress should resign. 1. What they should do is impeach Bush and Cheney & Co. Put them in jail for murdering their own people. They should be interred with their friend, Saddam Hussein. Our soldiers should be evacuated as quickly as their safety permits. There is no such thing as cut and run as it will take months to get our people out of there. 2. Bush, Cheney and his entire staff are to forfeit their salaries since elected to or appointed to office for lying to the American people. All their properties are to be seized, sold at auction with the proceeds going to social security and medicare. Rush Limbaugh's entire fortune should also be forfeitted. His tongue should be removed as he reports to jail for treason. 3. Reinstate the draft. All of our children are to enter military service immediately after leaving high school, diploma or not. No deferrments for any reason. 90% serving on our border patrols. 4. All legal immigrants submit to sterilization. They may come to live and work here if they follow our immigration rules. They will not be permitted to breed here. 5. All illegals caught are to be sterilized when caught and then released. If they are found to already be sterilized, they are to have their sexual organs surgically rendered so all they can is pee. They can have their organs back in a jar if they leave. 6. Bush's staff is to be deported to the Iraq they love so well. Bush/Cheney should be given a choice. They can leave the US and take their chances exiled in Iraq or remain in jail for the rest of their natural lives. Anyone who wishes to visit them in jail gets a cell in the same block with them. No exit. 7. All imports to the US will be taxed at 100% of sales value. Proceeds to be given to those who lost their jobs to the greedy Neocons in America.
Call me cynical, but...
I see a lot of talk about what congress should do. Let's talk about what they will do.
They'll kick and scream that the Petraeus report is inaccurate and misleading and the figures are questionable.
They'll kick and scream that Iraq needs to step to the plate and start taking more control and the administration needs to hold their feet to the fire.
Then they'll vote to give every penny of the money that the administration is asking for for the war.
They'll hope that we forget that The White House is thumbing it's nose at them in regards to the subpoenas. Now that they've drawn a line in the sand (for the 3rd time), they'll be trying to find a way to save face while the president again makes a complete mockery of Congress as a whole and reduces them to a totally unneeded branch of government. I mean really, why do we need them when they are doing nothing but talk, talk, talk with no action whatsoever.
They'll continue talking about the horrible state of affairs that this administration has brought onto our country, wiretapping, habeas corpus, lied us into war, blah, blah, blah. And then they'll tell us that we need to vote for the Democrats in 2008 to fix things.
So, the criminals in office will not be held accountable, and the democrats will get to keep their issue while still looking like that are "Tough on Terror".
Vote Republican: the party
Vote Republican: the party of deception, corruption, devastation, torture and oppression.
Why, on a Democrats site are you venting the anger on Dems? Why aren't you watching c-span and seeing how the repubs are completely obstructing the hearings,the bills and our democracy while the Dems have to fight for every single thing they get for us?
NOT ONE MORE DOLLAR • NOT ONE MORE LIFE.
Gene Bridges
Gene, I'm with you.......
Gene, I'm with you, NOT ONE MORE DOLLAR - NOT ONE MORE LIFE, American or innocent Iraqis and that is what I call Senator Harry Reid's office to say on Friday after that ridulous vote on Friday in the senate to condemn MoveOn. I also called senator, Amy Klobachar with the same message. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH OF THEIR LIES!
Congress and Senate need to be condemned for their failure to listen to the people. WE SAID - GET OUT! in November and we meant it. And the wimps keep failing to listen. Not enough votes - Bullcrap! Keep bringing the same bill to the floor and make the Thugs vote again and again and sooner or later they will get tired and give in.