Washblog

Doing the rounds of Sunday talk shows last weekend, Cheney said this when asked what would happen if the Democrats don't back down in their current face-off with George W. Bush over troop funding and ending the ongoing occupation of Iraq, "I'm willing to bet the other way -- that, in fact, they will." He continued, "There may be some people who are so irresponsible that they wouldn't support that (stripping the withdrawal language), but the majority will send Bush the bill he wants once they've gone through the exercise and it's clear the president will veto the provisions that they want in."

What concerns me about this particular prediction are statements from such prominent Democrats as Carl Levin and Barak Obama who have indicated that they think, when faced with Bush's veto, the Democrats will send back a bill that removes some of the more specific withdrawal language and replaces it with more of the "let's set more non-accountable benchmarks language that seems to placate the more conservative members of the caucus" just so we can get a funding bill signed. As one who struggled painfully in asking my fellow Progressives to support the current bills waiting in conference, even though they provided for up to another full year of funding for Iraq, I cannot accept any funding bill that does not demand a binding call to withdraw our troops and end the occupation of Iraq.

What to do? Please do not wait for Bush's veto pen to become the initiator of our actions. Phone, email, and fax your senators and representatives and remind them that you are calling on them to remain firm in their commitment to end our military involvement in Iraq. Let them know that voting for anything less than the current language is unacceptable.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue