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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-m-baxle...op_b_55982.html
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Carl M. Baxley Jr.| BIO
The Immorality of the GOP's Latest Iraq Vote
Posted July 12, 2007 | 03:35 PM (EST)
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Read More: Breaking Politics News, U.S. Republican Party, Claire McCaskill
Over the last several years I have sat silently as I watched politicians accuse each other of "not supporting our troops." I have sat in traffic and gazed upon a multitude of "Support Our Troops" stickers which in essence has done little more than make sticker companies rich. Also, I was quiet when our wounded soldiers sat in barracks festering with mold and plagued with rats. After today, I can no longer remain silent.
On Wednesday, Senator Jim Webb tried to get a vote before congress to require that all military personal be allowed an equal amount of time at home before deploying back to Iraq. The vote failed. It required sixty votes and only received fifty-six. Setting aside all politics, I find it immoral to ask our military personnel (which now include our National Guard) to serve in Iraq without adequate time between deployments to reunite with their families and to decompress from the intense hypervigilance they endure to survive in that war torn country.
Voting against Senator Jim Webb's proposal is the most glaring example of "not supporting our troops" that I have witnessed to date. I'm going to write Claire McCaskill and I would urge all those who genuinely care about our men and women in the military to also write their elected representatives. This is a golden opportunity to demonstrate that those who have continued to push this war have little conscience, morals, or concern for our military personnel. Each senator who voted against Senator Webb's proposal should be held in contempt by the citizens of this country, who have spoken in the last election, and demanded an end to this madness in the Middle East.
[/quote]
Carl M. Baxley Jr.| BIO
The Immorality of the GOP's Latest Iraq Vote
Posted July 12, 2007 | 03:35 PM (EST)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read More: Breaking Politics News, U.S. Republican Party, Claire McCaskill
Over the last several years I have sat silently as I watched politicians accuse each other of "not supporting our troops." I have sat in traffic and gazed upon a multitude of "Support Our Troops" stickers which in essence has done little more than make sticker companies rich. Also, I was quiet when our wounded soldiers sat in barracks festering with mold and plagued with rats. After today, I can no longer remain silent.
On Wednesday, Senator Jim Webb tried to get a vote before congress to require that all military personal be allowed an equal amount of time at home before deploying back to Iraq. The vote failed. It required sixty votes and only received fifty-six. Setting aside all politics, I find it immoral to ask our military personnel (which now include our National Guard) to serve in Iraq without adequate time between deployments to reunite with their families and to decompress from the intense hypervigilance they endure to survive in that war torn country.
Voting against Senator Jim Webb's proposal is the most glaring example of "not supporting our troops" that I have witnessed to date. I'm going to write Claire McCaskill and I would urge all those who genuinely care about our men and women in the military to also write their elected representatives. This is a golden opportunity to demonstrate that those who have continued to push this war have little conscience, morals, or concern for our military personnel. Each senator who voted against Senator Webb's proposal should be held in contempt by the citizens of this country, who have spoken in the last election, and demanded an end to this madness in the Middle East.
1 comment:
Heaven forbid that we provide more rest for the troops...
We're only asking for them to give their lives and minds in this war --- to be away from their families and lives in many instances with reservists.
Yep -- Bush and the Republican party sure support our troops...
Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 12:00 AM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/P...p;date=20070712
Hannelore Marianne Krause
More rest for troops defeated in Senate
By Renee Schoof
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Wednesday defeated an amendment offered by two Vietnam combat veterans, Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., that would have increased the time troops have at home before they return to war in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Fifty-six senators — including seven Republicans — voted in favor, but the measure fell short of the 60-vote supermajority Republicans had demanded, exploiting Senate rules.
The measure would have required that active-duty service members have the same amount of time at home as they've served at war before they're sent again to Iraq or Afghanistan. Military reserves and National Guard members would have had three years between deployments.
The Senate also voted 97-0 for an amendment sponsored by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who votes with the Bush administration on Iraq, that demands Iran stop supporting Iraqis who are killing Americans. It didn't specify consequences.
The vote on lengthening "dwell time" between deployments, the first on amendments to a fiscal 2008 defense-policy bill, indicated Democrats are likely to fall short on other bills to change war policy this month, but the gap is narrowing as more Republican senators and more Americans oppose Bush's Iraq strategy.
A new Gallup poll released Wednesday found that 71 percent of Americans favor withdrawing most troops by April, and 62 percent say it was a mistake to send troops to Iraq. Gallup said that was a new high in opposition to the war.
Democrats are pushing ahead with votes for withdrawal and to change the focus of the mission in Iraq to counterterrorism and training instead of stopping sectarian violence in Baghdad.
The House of Representatives planned a vote today on a bill sponsored by Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., calling for a withdrawal to begin in 120 days and end by April 1. The president would have to report to Congress to justify leaving some troops in Iraq for such missions as fighting terrorists.
The Senate is expected to vote soon on an amendment by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., that would start a withdrawal in 120 days but would leave it up to Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, to decide how many service members should leave and how many should stay to fight the insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq, protect Americans and their allies in Iraq, and train and equip Iraqi forces.
Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., urged senators Wednesday to support that approach because it would direct American forces to kill al-Qaida adherents while pressuring the Iraqi government to end sectarian violence.
"I believe that President Bush's formulation that we will stand down when they stand up is backwards," Smith said. Iraqi leaders seek revenge and religious division, not reconciliation, he said, and "they will not stand up until we begin standing down."
Smith was among the seven Republicans who voted in favor of the amendment to lengthen periods between war duty. The others, besides Hagel, were Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, John Sununu of New Hampshire and John Warner of Virginia. All but Snowe face 2008 elections.
Some Republicans who voted against the amendment called it an effort to take away flexibility from military commanders and a back-door way to end the troop buildup, as it would reduce the number of service members available for duty at a time when the military is strained.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the plan would set a "dangerous precedent" that would "allow the political moment to take over troop deployments."
The Military Officers Association of America, a nonpartisan group that represents 360,000 active and retired officers, endorsed the measure, saying in a letter that the military is overstressed.
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said he and Warner could offer a nonbinding amendment as early as today that would attempt to persuade the administration to change its Iraq policy.
Neither Lugar nor Warner would disclose details, saying they're waiting until Congress receives an interim progress report on Iraq today.
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