With the votes in the House and Senate today, responsibility for the Iraq war has been successfully transferred from the Republicans and George W. Bush to the Democratically-controlled Congress. Not only that, but the passage of HR 2206 (U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007) actually shows the Democrats with less willingness to stand up to the Bush administration than the 2002 Iraq authorization to use military force.
As I remarked earlier today, despite the Democrats now having a majority in the House of Representatives, more than four years of war in Iraq, and a President with approval ratings in the freezing zone, the numbers show a virtually identical ratio of Democrats voting to halt Bush’s insane Iraq fantasies, with just a 1% increase to 62%.
What’s worse, in the Senate, the numbers have gone backwards. There were 50 Democrats in the Senate when the AUMF passed in 2002 (sure, they could have stopped it then, too). There are 49 Democrats in the Senate now, with a couple of Independents caucusing with them (or, in the case of Joe Lieberman, spying on them). 21 Democrats (42%) voted against the Iraq war resolution in 2002. Today, just 10 (20%) voted against the supplemental appropriation bill.
The Democrats have bought the war now: a lemon car that’s leaking blood from the crankcase. They’ve bought it without a warranty or the ability to return it. The dealer’s “Everything Must Go!” sign is already up on the White House lot.
Just before the Iraq war began, Sen. George McGovern quoted President Lyndon Johnson as saying: “It’s awfully easy to get into war. It’s awfully tough to get out.”