House Defeats Effort To Scale Down Afghan War In Close 204-215 Vote

Source: THE HILL

The House on Thursday narrowly shot down an amendment to scale back military operations in Afghanistan.

In a close 204-215 vote, the House rejected a bipartisan amendment from Reps. James McGovern (D-Mass.), Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and others that would have required the Department of Defense to develop a plan for an "accelerated transition of military operations to Afghan authorities."

Twenty-six Republicans voted in favor of the accelerated transition, and all but eight Democrats supported the amendment, which supporters stressed was a plan to speed up the withdrawal, not an immediate requirement to withdraw forces.

By a less dramatic 123-294 vote, the House rejected an amendment from Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) that would require the withdrawal of U.S. ground troops from Afghanistan and require DOD to submit a withdrawal plan to Congress 60 days after the measure becomes law.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/163517-house-votes-to-limit-military-effort-in-libya

as usual.

Right now, I just want to scream in frustration.