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Ear to the Ground

Call to Limit Deployments Is a No-Go in Senate

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Posted on Jul 11, 2007


So much for “supporting our troops”: A bipartisan proposal sponsored by two combat veterans to give exhausted U.S. troops more time between their military deployments overseas was defeated by Republicans in the Senate, the first vote of a two-week congressional debate on Iraq. 

Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, and Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, sponsored an amendment that could effectively limit the number of troops deemed ready for deployment. The senators, both combat veterans, said the men and women in the military should be given the same amount of time at home that they serve overseas.

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, said the military had been stretched too thin as the war in Iraq extended into its fifth summer. “Our troops are not machines,” he said, “they are human beings.”

But Republican opponents argued that Congress had no business dictating how long troops would be deployed and suggested Democrats were simply trying to score political points from an unpopular war. “The best thing that we can do for our troops is to win,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. “We’re playing yo-yo—political yo-yo—with people’s lives.”

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By cyrena, July 13, 2007 at 12:09 am Link to this comment

....But Republican opponents argued that Congress had no business dictating how long troops would be deployed and suggested Democrats were simply trying to score political points from an unpopular war….

This is basically the same thing that the shrub said today. He said that Congress is overstepping their Constitutional authority to even be discussing these matters, and that basically, in so many words, their only job is to just shut-up and FUND THE TROOPS. That’s pretty much what he said.

So in other words, since Congress is supposed to be US, and since we’re trying to do something about him, his response to them, (meaning all of us) is to just STFU, and hand over the money.

He’s going to be there until the heist is complete, and as long as we keep giving him the money, nothing will change. Maybe when they finally have to start spending some of their own money…the billions they’ve stolen through all of their war profiteering, it might make a difference. But, that’s not going to happen until we 1)cut off all funding for war, and impeach the SOB’s.

Otherwise, this is where we’ll be well after the Election, if it happens.

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By Don Stivers, July 12, 2007 at 5:20 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I was solicited by the Navigators, a religious organization, to donate money to them so they could support the troops in Iraq.  I asked how it would be spent.  The answer was that people would pray for our soldiers and send spiritual material to our troops over seas.  I asked about bringing them home.  No such thing was the response.  So, what is meant by supporting the troops?  Let’s see the decider land in the middle of Iraq and lead our troops to victory.  No definition of victory.

D. Stivers

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By THOMAS BILLIS, July 12, 2007 at 1:34 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Supportng the troops means even when the commander in chief is shown to be a moron you keep doing exactly what he wants.Who would want to limit the power of Dwight David Bush one of the great military men of our lifetimes.If George Bush had led been at the helm during ww2 one half of the country would be speaking Japanese the other half German.What does this guy have to do to convince the Lindsey Grahams of this world that he is incompetent and requires adult supervision?

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farmertx's avatar

By farmertx, July 12, 2007 at 12:05 pm Link to this comment

No doubt we will have some more Democrat’s on the Hill after ‘08.
That is the one good thing about the Shrub; he has pointed out the fallacies of the neo-con movement where everyone can see them. Granted some are wearing welders masks and claim that they can’t see anything wrong. Some could be shown a video of Shrub having inimate relations with Bambi and say that just proves he loves nature.
But the rest of us are fully aware of the charades that he, or rather Der Karl, has engineered.
Now, it is up to us to unite and get behind the candidates that will bring America back to its original greatness. We just have to figure out who they are. Lotsa luck on that.

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By Hammo, July 12, 2007 at 10:15 am Link to this comment

Vietnam combat veteran Jim Webb knows first-hand about the stress on the troops and the poor decision-making in Washington, DC.

He is different from the “chicken hawks” supporting longer tours of duty and endless expenditures of blood and funds for the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The similarities between the Vietnam War and the invasion and occupation of Iraq seem important.

Also similar are the turning points in public opinion about the Vietnam War and the situation in Iraq.

This is looked at in the article:

“Americans felt turning points on Vietnam, Iraq wars in ‘70, ‘07”

American Chronicle
July 11, 2007

http://americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=31984

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By lodipete, July 12, 2007 at 8:03 am Link to this comment

About 5 more democrat senators elected in 2008 and about 25 more representatives ought to do it. Not only can this war be ended, the “reforms” of the republican congress since 1994 can be undone. How about laws protecting union organizers from predators like WalMart? Putting outfits like Haliburton & Blackwater Security out of business? Reverting the Bankruptcy Act back to it’s 1978 standard? Ending the loan shark practices of banks and credit card companies? Socialized Medicine( I don’t care what it’s called)? Raising the minimum wage to $12.50/hr.? Above all else, the US minds it’s own business and gets it’s own house in order. If we’re going to stick our noses in everybody’s business, bring back the draft and start at the top, not the bottom.

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By Joseph Conrad, July 11, 2007 at 9:11 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Senator Linsay Graham needs to resign from the Senate and go fight with our troops in Iraq if he is such an ardent supporter of the conflict for Iraq’s Oil. Unfortunately, he is a coward as are most of the Republican Senators supposedly ‘Supporting Our Troops’ by keeping them in harm’s way!

Indeed, any Senator who supports keeping our troops in Iraq till they DIE - AND ALSO HAS A SON OR DAUGHTER OF ENLISTMENT AGE - should be REQUIRED BY LAW TO SEND HIS SON AND DAUGHTER TO IRAQ FOR 1 YR.

Otherwise Graham and the other Loud Mouth Republican
Senators who Support US Troops Dying in Iraq for Iraqi OIL need to keep their COWARDLY MOUTHS SHUT!

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