Washington – President Bush continues to warn that Democratic demands for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq are reckless, even dangerous. But for the first time since the conflict began four years ago, Democrats are not flinching in their opposition.
Every time Congress has voted on Iraq this year, Democrats have picked up a little more support to set timelines for bringing troops home. The momentum culminated last week when the 48 Democrats present in the Senate, joined by two Republicans, voted for a target date for troop withdrawals.
Much of the gain for the Democrats came from their most conservative members. Many of them had refused to support a withdrawal date less than a year ago. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., for instance, rejected the Senate’s March 31, 2008, withdrawal goal in a resolution voted on earlier last month but reversed his position last week by supporting the $122 billion war- funding package with the goal attached.
Nelson prefers conditions for staying, as opposed to terms for leaving, and to win his vote, fellow Democrats inserted a set of nonbinding benchmarks for the Iraqi government, an approach that Nelson had been advocating for two years.
This week, House and Senate leaders will begin negotiations on a final spending bill that is certain to include some withdrawal language. Bush has vowed to veto the legislation if the Democrats follow through.
The changes have marked a transformation in thinking among many Democrats.
“Last summer, I didn’t want to do anything to hurt the morale of our troops,” said Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, a conservative Blue Dog Democrat who voted in June for a House Republican resolution but who sided with his party last month. “At this point, we’re beyond morale. We’re in serious jeopardy, and the president seems to have no clue how to get us out of this.”
Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a Blue Dog leader who also voted with the GOP in June, said he has come to the realization that U.S. troops will never be able to win in Iraq because Bush’s definition of victory keeps changing.
Voters in Arkansas are tired of the shifting justifications, Ross said.
“It’s our job to reflect our constituencies, and my constituents have moved a lot in the past year,” he said.
