President Bush’s strategy to add troops in Iraq “will not make America safer, will not make our military stronger and will not make the region more stable,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today as she opened debate on a resolution disapproving of Bush’s plan.
House members launched arguments on the resolution in sweeping tones, calling it historic and their most solemn duty. They cited the words of Abraham Lincoln and the actions of Winston Churchill. Both those for and against named and showed pictures of American military members who’ve died fighting in Iraq.
Those in favor of passage called it immoral to send any more Americans to fight and die in what’s become a religious civil war. Those opposing warned that the resolution marked the first step in conceding the war on terrorism.
“We are engaged in a global war now — a war for our very way of life,” said Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio. “Every drop of blood that has been spilt in defense of freedom and liberty – from the American Revolution to this very moment – is for nothing if we are unwilling to stand against this threat.”
The House is expected to debate three days. A vote is scheduled for Friday. With most Democrats and some Republicans supporting it, the resolution should pass.
Bush’s spokesman, Tony Snow, said the White House wasn’t exerting any pressure to stop the resolution’s passage.
“We’ve made our views known, in terms of what people have to keep in mind,” Snow said. “But members of the House and members of the Senate have the freedom to go ahead and write their resolutions and do what they want with them.”
Republicans opposing the resolution called it the first step toward withdrawing funding for the war effort. Pelosi indicated it was a first step.
“We will take our country in a new direction on Iraq,” by passing the resolution, Pelosi, D-Calif. said. “A vote of disapproval will set the stage for additional Iraq legislation.”
“By this vote we will signal that the House has heard the American people. No more blank checks for President Bush on Iraq,” Pelosi said.
Some lawmakers called for more aggressive action than the non-binding resolution. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., a Korea War veteran, repeated his call to force the war’s end by using congress’ ability to cut off funding for it.
“Our priority must remain ending the fighting and the dying in Iraq,” Conyers said.
House members favoring the resolution used the debate to criticize Bush’s handling of the Iraq war.
“We are here because of a series of irretrievable strategic mistakes,” said Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the Armed Services Committee. “The Administration used bad intelligence to justify the rationale for war &The Administration had no plan for the post-war phase of the conflict and went into Iraq with inadequate force.”
But Republican Peter King argued that mistakes are made in wars.
“That’s true in almost every war in which America has been engaged,” King said, citing Korea, World War II, and the American effort in Kosovo.
King warned against setting what he called the historic precedent of passing a resolution that criticized a specific piece of war strategy. The war in Iraq, he said, is part of an “overall strategy”&”against Islamic terrorism.
“It’s an enemy that is plotting every day to find ways to attack us,” King said.
Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., said that prior to the start of World War II, few supported Winston Churchill’s call to take a stand against Hitler.
“As a result of nobody listening, 62 million people died,” Burton said.
