DENVER-
A spokesman for Sen. Wayne Allard said Thursday that it’s not fair for Democrats to inject past comments by Allard on the presence of U.S. troops in Somalia into the debate over a Colorado resolution criticizing an increase in U.S. troops in Iraq.
State Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, co-sponsor of a non-binding resolution criticizing the U.S. troop surge in Iraq, has been using Allard’s 1993 comments calling for U.S. troops to be brought home from Somalia to bolster his argument that lawmakers have a right to discuss the Iraq issue while not jeopardizing troop morale.
During Wednesday’s hearing on the resolution, Tupa handed out copies of remarks by then-U.S. Rep. Allard and other members of Congress calling for a withdrawal from Somalia.
But Allard spokesman Steve Wymer said the mission in Somalia was a human rights one and much smaller than what U.S. forces face in Iraq. He said the comparison is a “mischaracterization.”
“Iraq has a myriad of national security concerns that revolve around what’s happening in the Middle East,” Wymer said, adding that Allard has taken no position on the Iraq resolution.
Last week, Tupa said Allard and other congressional Republicans backed resolutions opposing President Clinton’s military deployment to Somalia. However, the record doesn’t show that Allard actually voted for any resolution on the issue.
Allard did vote on Nov. 8, 1993, for a measure calling for a vote on a resolution to withdraw troops from Somalia. The House voted 390-8 to take up the resolution with both Democrats and Republicans voting in favor.
Tupa said Thursday that Allard’s Somalia comments, rather than a vote, are what’s important.
“Of course it’s true that the two missions were different,” Tupa said in a written statement. “What is the same, however, is that our troops were on the ground and in harm’s way when Sen. Allard was speaking out against President Clinton and calling for the withdrawal of of American troops from Somalia.”
