Therefore, one idea on what Democrats might include in the next Iraqi Occupation spending bill:

Link the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq with the Iraqi legislature passing the Iraqi Oil Law. And as soon as the Oil Law is passed, our forces will have six months in which to leave Iraq.

I believe this will box Bush and Cheney into a corner.

Will they veto a bill that provides funding for our continued occupation of Iraq, and which also prods the Iraqi legislature into passing the Oil Law, the one law in occupied Iraq that is the top priority of the Bush administration and all the Western oil companies intent upon reaping Iraqi oil profits for decades to come?

On the other hand, if they don’t veto this next spending bill, then I bet the Iraqi legislature will convene immediately and pass the much-desired-by Bush and Cheney Oil Law, since passage will be directly linked to the promise that all U.S. forces will be gone from their homeland in six months time, which is what a vast majority of Iraqis desire.

Anyway, I believe Democrats should give this a shot. I know it’s a gamble. But all participants will be gambling, including the Western oil companies (and their Bush administration front) that once our forces are gone from Iraq, the Iraqi Oil Law will still be in effect and honored by whatever Iraqi government is in place. Of course, the Iraqis (once our troops are gone) might decide to scrap the Bush/Cheney-pushed Oil Law and contract elsewhere.

Unless, of course, the Bush/Cheney plan for Iraq’s oil wealth is to get the Oil Law in place and keep our soldiers in Iraq to make sure the Oil Law is honored, for many, many, many years to come.

If this is the case, then I’d like to see Bush and Cheney veto a spending bill with this stipulation in it linking the Oil Law with our departure, and explain what they are really doing and what their real plans are for Iraq.

Thus, this provision would back Bush and Cheney into a corner. Either they’d have to put up or shut up.

“First, let me tell you I voted for you in November. I am currently hoping another Democrat runs against you in the 2008 in the primary and I WILL be voting for anyone who opposes you because you are not representing the people of your district.

Today you voted against overriding the president’s veto on the bill that would have supported our troops (I’m an Army Vet) and set a timetable for withdraw, which reflects the majority will of the PEOPLE of the United States. Your cowardice has been noted, and the people of your district and the United States are tired of Congress appeasing the president rather than serving their will.

The act of standing up to a dictator takes courage, which is what our military has done. I ask that you, if you really believe your ’support the troops’ graphic on this page, that you exhibit the same kind of courage politically that we ask our service members to display every day as they wear the uniform. Take a stand against a needless war. Take a stand and tell the president no more blank checks. And stand with your fellow Democrats, because if you vote against the will of the people, you might as well be a Republican.”

Perhaps a little harsh, but I’m pissed.

matt @ 168

Funding is funding; the money’s there but the wrangling needs to be done so Bush and Cheney can score fear points with their demented base.

In the Federal Government, funding IS NOT funding, and the money ISN’T there unless and until Congress authorizes it. There are 13 different pools of funds and none of those pools shares water with any of the others.

The pools are set up by 13 appropriation bills, and while some departments are lumped together in these bills, Defense has always had its’ own.

The Defense appropriation bill for 2007 was passed in August of 2006. The President did not ask for funds for Iraq in that bill. If I were Congress, I’d just drop the supplemental funding entirely, with the reason that the President wouldn’t have vetoed it if it was really needed…

Of course he doesn’t need the money! The fact that there are black portions of the budget that are hidden from everyone and that money is continually thrown at contractors like Blackwater, Titan, CACI, and the Pentagon itself, it’s evident that there is more than enough money to be had.

That said, why aren’t Democrats pointing out that the equipment the armed forces are forced to use is sub-standard and insufficient?

This never was about the money or Bush never would have faced the chance of money actually stopping.

I will be extremely upset if the Democrats give an inch to Bush on this. Bush has got to be stopped in his tracks and that smug looked wiped from his face. It’s time for him to realize who the boss really is and it isn’t him or Cheney. If the Dems don’t go 100% on the offensive over this they will never live it down.

NO COMPROMISE!

puppethead @ 57

Thom Hartmann pointed out today that the Iraq War was won in 2003 and there is no such thing as winning an “occupation” which is what we’re in now. The only endgame for an occupation is negotiating a political solution that’s acceptable by the majority of parties involved. So it’s leave or not leave, there is no win or lose.

Yep. Calling it a “war” imvho gives it a weight that it never deserved.

A war requires combatants and once we took out Saddam and his Baathist regime there was no more need to be there, even considering the stupidity and illegality of going that far. So, after that it was just occupation and setting up the next dictatorship who will give us the oil we want when we want it and at the price we want it … forever. That last part hasn’t happened yet, so we’re still there…occupying (waiting really, and dying).

Since the Republicans always refer to themselves and to Bush when they say “America”, I’m assuming that when they way ‘we lose’ or ‘America loses’ that what they really mean is they the Republicans lose. And that is something they’ll fight tooth and nail, no matter how many innocents have to die and no matter how much money (raised from the middle-class of America) has to be wasted.

my war,
Theres only you in my life
The only thing thats bright

My first war,
Youre every breath that I take
Youre every step I make

And i
(i-i-i-i-i)
I want to share
All my love with you
Nothing else will do…

And your bombs
Your bomb, your bombs
They tell me how much distraction
Ooh yes, you will always be
My endless war

Two legacies,
Two legacies that beat as one
Our careers are just winding down

Forever
(ohhhhhh)
Our faux courage and denial
I cant resist your armenents

And war
Oh, war
Ill be a fool
For you,
Im sure
You know I dont mind
Oh, you know I dont mind

cause you,
You mean the world to me
Oh
I know
I know
Ive found in you
My endless war

Oooh-woow
Boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom, boom, booom
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom

Oooh, and war
Oh, war
Ill be that fool
For you,
Im sure
You know I dont mind
Oh you know-
I dont mind

And, yes
Youll be the only one
cause no one can deny
This love I have inside
And Ill give it all to you
My war
My war, my war
My endless war

Hope CREW and the folks at TPM who worked so hard to destroy Murtha’s bid for majority leader all take a long hard look in the mirror.

And hope they spend the next several hours on their knees, retching.

Blood, blood, blood – Iraqi, Afgani, American.

More blood and gore in Iraq – a proud legacy for CREW and those at TPM who were so eager to sink Murtha’s Majority Leader bid.

How many more Americans and Iraqis will die before the cold, dead hand of the DLC is dragged off the political table for a long overdue burial?

How long will the Democratic “leaders” ignore the putrefying flesh, the death, the gore, the bloating corpses, the flies?

How long will Steny Hoyer and the DLC serve as A*P*C’s fifth column, rather than as advocates for the freedom and security of Americans and the American people?

How many more Americans and Iraqis must die while Steny and his DLC cronies use their elected positions to serve A*P*C and a foreign power?

If this is not treason, let us come no closer.

Amen, brother.

Probably best to do it both ways since depending on Pelosi’s office to forward the info is not certain. It is not that they wouldn’t want to but some of the emails may not make it through.