But that logic does not overcome the fundamental fact of political and governmental life -- that George Bush is committed to seeking victory in Iraq and that the Constitution makes him commander in chief until noon on Jan. 20, 2009. As long as he retains that office, and as long as he is seeking that goal, no one can veto his orders to the armed forces or dispute his authority to direct the generals in Iraq to carry out his plans.
Congress has the power of the purse and, in theory, could cut off funding for the troops he has deployed. But few Democrats are prepared for that drastic a step. Instead, they would like to redefine the mission to one of support and training for the Iraqi forces, hoping against hope that a staged American withdrawal would force Iraq's Shiite and Sunni politicians to compose the differences that have brought that nation close to all-out civil war.
[...]
From the start, Democrats ought to concede one big point: Absent any readiness on their part to cut off funds to the troops in Iraq, those forces will be there as long as George Bush wants them to remain. Once that point is conceded, Bush should be called upon to pay some attention to the Democrats' demands -- and the public opinion that supports them.
The left typically cannot see beyond their Bush derangement syndrome to acknowledge the points that Broder makes.
George Bush IS the President of the United States of America and THAT seems to be what the Dems cannot get through their thick skulls.
Congress can defund but they are not willing to do so. They would rather play political games with the funding and try to micromanage the war on terror.
They are finding resistance now, as I showed in my last post, from military families as well as the military itself , Veterans and their supporters.
Levin made it clear that after the President vetoes the "show" bill that Congress and the Senate stuffed so full of pork for unrelated items, that they WILL fund our troops.
There is no compromise on Victory, we either win or we lose, there is nothing IN the middle this time and our president is determined to win the war on terror.
Now, I also do not agree with Broder's assessment but I am not going to let an op-ed column written by a liberal get my panties in a bunch.
If Congress is so sure that we cannot complete our mission in Iraq, they need to defund it totally, with no question...at least then they will be standing up for something instead of trying to play these stupid political games with our troops funding.
If they are not willing to put ALL their eggs in that basket then they need to sit down, shut up and let our troops get their job done and come home to us.
Pick. Choose.
Then accept the ramifications of your choice.
Have some freaking balls.
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