By a vote of 223 - 201 the House of Reps. voted to end the war. According to the bill the troops would be home by Spring. The vote generally followed party lines: 219 Democrats and four Republicans in favor, and 191 Republicans and 10 Democrats opposed. Some quotes after the bill passed: The report makes clear that not even the White House can conclude there has been significant progress," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
"It is time for the president to listen to the American people and do what is necessary to protect this nation. That means admitting his Iraq policy has failed, working with the Democrats and Republicans in Congress on crafting a new way forward in Iraq and refocusing our collective efforts on defeating AL-Qaida," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
and then an idiot:
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said Congress has already decided it will be September before the administration's strategy can be evaluated properly. "Certainly the young soldiers and Marines risking their lives today on the streets of Baghdad and Ramadi would agree and they deserve our patience." Ugghhhh!!!!!!!
The bill will likely be held up in the Senate on a filibuster. We must make it known to our Senators that the policy is unacceptable, however as usual, Bush will veto the bill even if it passes the House.
But, see here for the Iraq moratorium pledge. On the third Friday of every month beginning September 21, 2007 millions will stand up in protest. You can go sign the pledge. The idea is obviously to end the war, but to do it in protest along with our brothers and sisters in arms.
People will:Wear and distribute black ribbons and armbands; buy no gas on Moratorium days
Pressure politicians and the media 
Hold vigils, pickets, rallies, and teach-ins
Hold special religious services
Coordinate events in music, art, and culture
Host film showings, talks, and educational events
Organize student actions: Teach-ins, school closings, etc.
It is time to end this disastrous war (do I sound like a broken record). A report yesterday said that Al Qaida is stronger than ever. That is what this entire six and half year nightmare has been about and we can't even get that right. It is time to stand up. Let us strike at those that make policy.
3 comments:
I just signed the pledge moratorium. I think we should all sign and report back here and tell us why you signed!
i signed the pledge to make sure i stay involved, this community where i live needs a wake up call every day... we plan to use street art/guerilla stickering tactics... PEACE
Hadn't heard of the moratorium - thanks for the heads-up (heads-down?)...little cheeses me more about the Bush/Cheney war-spin than their war-long manipulation of casualty figures and contempt for human lives, especially 'collateral damage'. This week's example: As the sensitivity to Iraq casualties rose around the impending Update on the Surge and the rising defection of key Rep senators appeared at the top of the week, the 4.5/day GI death rate running from the last half of June up to July 6th immediately plummeted July 7-11 to a much happier 0.8/day... Good fortune? A lull in hostilities? Insurgency stalling maybe? No - military PR relying on short man-in-the-street memory - "how's it going now, since the headlines just reminded me it's a big issue?". Over exactly the same periods, the Iraqi security fatalities increased in lock-step by 70%. Unfortunately - and this we do note well - their soldiers aren't nearly as efficient, high-powered or well-armored as our guys. We pull our guys off patrol for political convenience - we withdraw from combat at point-of-fire - and throw extra Iraqis out there to take the brunt at twice the death rate and six times the wounded rate just to keep the same levels of security and control of insurgent boldness. And on these US-convenient redeploys, we won't so much as lend our body armor for the day's patrol, even in mixed US/Iraqi squads where we're on buddy systems and shared bivouac in part to win hearts and minds. It's perfectly okay to have them step up to the task, optimally in phases. But NOT randomly and for political expediency half a globe away from the action. This is no new phase action, either; this pattern is evident in SIADAPP data all war long. No wonder their squad leaders hate us and there's so much (State-side)unreported intra-squad friction; it's regularly in the Middle-Eastern non-English press. It's the ugly brilliance of embedding the American press, who, of course, in both profane and very subtle ways, can't rat out the heroes they get a)to so butchly identify with...and b) rely on to survive ...as well as c) not Serpico them. I'm ex-Navy Intel from the first Gulf war - my detachment, one of the two primary elint listening posts then, was the target of a Qaddafi chemical attack (sweatlessly shot down in mid-Med -- never heard of that, eh?) and, after Desert Storm began, four terrorist bombing attempts. I hardly love the bad guys and empathathize strongly with risks (I never had to take, having - quasi-guiltily - a desk job 90% of the time) our guys/gals in the sand did and do have to take. But we're no longer there - never have been this time around - to protect the Iraqi people, our forgotten and core legitimization of whatever we do there - as is expressly stated in our military oath all of us took.
God, I'm ranting on ya. Sorry. This war is all about saving Bush/Cheney/Republican face anymore. The black armband is a great idea. I'm in.
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