Galloway:Blood Of Many Will Flow Freely&Stain The Hands Of Those Who Allowed Insane War To Continue

Homepage Galloway commentary: Bush still refuses to admit he was wrong
By Joseph L. Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Friday, September 14, 2007


The president announced that he was taking Gen. Petraeus’ advice and ordering the beginning of 10-month gradual drawdown of the extra 30,000 troops of the surge — a drawdown that everyone knew was inevitable simply because our Army and Marine Corps cannot sustain that level of troops in Iraq beyond next March.

On the schedule the president laid down this week, we’ll still have some 138,000 troops on the ground in Iraq next July, and 100,000 on January 20, 2009, when Bush’s successor will take office, and he made it clear that he hopes to have agreements in place to ensure an American military presence there for many years to come.

Will Bush get away with this? From all the evidence at hand, the answer, sadly, is yes. Only the Democrats in Congress stand in his way, and they have yet to find their spines, or a semblance of moral courage, or even a sufficient understanding of the Constitution and its clauses on war making and war-financing, to override The Decider.

It’s a long journey from now to January 20, 2009, and the blood of many Americans and even more Iraqis will flow freely and stain the hands of those who allow this insane war to continue at the behest of a stubborn, unseeing, unthinking man from Crawford, Texas.

2007 McClatchy Newspapers
more at:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/19708.html

Mr. Galloway does not understand - or thinks he understands better than those elected to Congress?

Let's see, hold up each and every supplemental war funding bill in committee, and force the troops home. Wow, no votes needed.

I suggest that you go back and reread your Constitution, apparently you've skipped a few parts.

bill in 74 just stop funding the embassy.

All you need is the leadership in the Appropriations committee to hold firm. Some spine in just a few people is all that is needed, not votes. If our so called leadership can't swing that, then they don't deserve to be leaders.

The Paris Peace Accords on 'Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam' were signed on 27 January, 1973, officially ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War - the combat troops were out within 60 days of January, 1973. But there were still American military forces in Vietnam after 1973 (about 10,000 non combat)

Dec 1974, A Bill called the Foreign Assistance ACT cut off all military funding to the South Vietnamese government. The act fixed the numbers of U.S. military personnel allowed in Vietnam: 4000 within six months of enactment and 3000 within one year.

The act in 1974 defunded the what was now only air support and equipment for South Vietnam to continue fighting.

However at this juncture it is imperitive that we try everything that is at our disposal, including defunding the war. Anything less is simply playing politics with people's lives.

tell folks you are supporting the troops.

Given the President's war-time(? as if this "war" rather than helping oil friends and Dad make a buck) powers to move money around, impeachment is the ONLY solution, since anything else just gives the GOP a club to beat us over the head with while not moving us an inch closer to ending the war.

I also think that you give the American public quite a bit less credit than they deserve. I think that at this point in time, they can easily make the connection that defunding the war, bringing the troops home is indeed supporting the troops, especially if the Dems get out and do their job in the bully pulpit.

It is sad to see that political cowardice is guiding the actions of the Dems. Once again, they are playing politics with peoples lives. How many thousands will die before they become serious about ending this war? How much destruction will be visited on Iraq? How further weakened will our country become before the Dems gain a spine and stop this war?

It is past time to stop playing politics with people's lives. I suppose the remoteness of the conflict, the lack of televised images have hardened people's hearts, for otherwise I can't explain this morbid desire to put politics over peace, and the fact that it is being done openly, without shame, death rationalized as vote counts and polls. Is this what our party has become? What a sad day indeed.

Confederation had a lot of work approving each individual request for funds from Washington - which is why the Constitution "fixed" that problem - or at least is read by the Courts as having fixed that problem - by giving the President executive and war powers not requiring Congressional approval.

Why did we cut off military funding to the South Vietnamese government? I thought we agreed to help them after our combat troops left. (The current Iraqi government should take note of that historical precedent. Once the troops leave the other help leaves soon after that no matter what anyone says.)

n/t

from Crawford, Texas, are committing a worse crime: failure to use their constitutionally-mandated powers, prerogatives, and responsibilities to stop this stubborn, unseeing, unthinking man from Crawford, Texas from continuing this insane pre-emptive war and to fully restore the checks and balances the founders intended so no mad man who had gained the presidency could run amok, bring ruin to the Republic. Yes, the Congress is the bigger criminal imo.

:puke::puke:

they don't oppose the (real)premise for the war, it is not surprising they will choose to continue it.
No peace and justice for the middle east... it is not on their freakin' table.