US military death toll in Iraq hits 2,500
The US death toll in Iraq has hit 2,500.
Two and a half thousand families have now lost loved ones based on a lie. The lie that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction and that he posed a threat to the USA.
White House press secretary Tony Snow said, "It's a number." He said that Bush "feels very deeply the pain that the families feel."
The Republicans then went on to hold a sham debate to culminate in a vote that labels the Iraq war part of the larger global fight against terrorism and says an "arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment" of troops is not in the national interest.
Democrats decried the debate as a sham. They said Republicans promised an open discussion but, instead, stacked the deck in their own favor by limiting debate to 10 hours and barring any amendments.
"Republicans offer a political document, just before the fall elections," Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., said. Added Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif.: "They are forcing us into a charade."
They also complained that Republicans refused to allow them to present an alternative resolution. But even though they tried, Democrats weren't able to agree on such an alternative.
In both the House and Senate, Democrats appear to be divided into three camps. Some want troops to leave Iraq this year. Others object to setting any kind of timetable. A number of them want the United States to start redeploying forces by year's end but don't want to set a date when all troops should be out.
House Democrats are mindful that voting against such a resolution could leave them vulnerable to attacks by Republicans who could claim that Democrats who opposed the resolution don't support US troops and advocate a "cut-and-run" strategy.
To that end, a memo this week by House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, urged his fellow Republicans to frame the debate as "a portrait of contrasts between Republicans and Democrats."
Republican leaders portray the debate as the first of its kind since the Iraq war started in 2003. But they staged a similar vote on a resolution rejecting the immediate withdrawal of troops last year after Murtha, in a reversal, called for a quick exit from Iraq.
That's how much Bush feels the pain of the families of the dead. By arranging faux debates with the express wish of enabling Republicans to get re-elected.
I thought this was the guy who "didn't do politics?"
Tags:
No comments:
Post a Comment