WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly rejected a resolution calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan by year’s end as Republicans and Democrats joined together in embracing President Barack Obama’s long-term war strategy.
The vote was 321-93 with one member voting present, a show of bipartisanship on national security and a referendum on the president’s policy after last year’s troop buildup.
“We need to stand with our commander in chief. We need to stand with our troops and complete this task,” Republican Rep. Chris Gibson of New York, a freshman who did four Army combat tours in Iraq, said during the forceful debate.
A resolution expresses lawmakers’ opinions but has no legal effect. Although this one had failed in the past and failed again, the debate provided a measure of Congress’ impatience with the war in the face of increasing budget pressure and growing public opposition reflected in recent opinion polls.
A similar resolution failed in the House last March on a vote of 356-65, and both sides were closely watching Thursday’s vote to gauge the gains among the resolution’s proponents.
During Thursday’s debate, lawmakers had warned that passage of the resolution would have dire consequences in the fight against terrorism and put the nation at risk of another Sept. 11 strike.
“Withdrawing before completing our mission would reinforce extremist propaganda that Americans are weak and unreliable allies and facilitate extremist recruiting and future attacks,” said Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
Army Gen. David Petraeus told Congress this week that the war is turning around and the United States is on track to begin drawing down troops in July. The timeline calls for ending U.S. and NATO combat operations by the end of 2014.
The resolution and its chief sponsors — Reps. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; Walter Jones, R-N.C.; and Ron Paul, R-Texas — argue that’s not fast enough.
