Democrats gave up their demand for troop-withdrawal deadlines in an Iraq war spending package yesterday, abandoning their top goal of bringing U.S. troops home and handing President Bush a victory in a debate that has roiled Congress for months. ...Instead of sticking with troop-withdrawal dates, Democrats accepted a GOP plan to establish 18 political and legislative benchmarks for the Iraqi government, with periodic reports from Bush on its progress, starting in late July. If the Iraqis fall short, they could forfeit U.S. reconstruction aid.
NYT:
In backing down on Tuesday, the Democratic leaders accepted an outcome that had appeared increasingly likely for weeks, particularly as Democrats became concerned that their defiance could be portrayed as indifference to the troops.
Representative David R. Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin and chairman of the Appropriations Committee, was reported in the NYT as saying:
“There has never been a chance of a snowball in Hades that Congress would cut off those funds to those troops in the field.”
We kowtow to the culture of compulsory 'patriotism' here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
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