Kucinich: President’s Veto Means War Funds Should Be Cut Off Now

Ohio Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich's congressional website http://kucinich.house.gov/ posted the following press release.

Kucinich: President’s Veto Means War Funds Should Be Cut Off Now

Washington, May 1 - WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 1) — Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement after President Bush vetoed the Iraq supplemental spending bill today:

“This President has made it clear from the start that he has no intention of withdrawing from Iraq. The President’s refusal to recognize that the occupation is fueling the insurgency compounds the tragedy of the U.S. presence in Iraq. He refuses to recognize that the war, which he declared successfully completed four years ago, has been a colossal failure.

“The White House has equated continued funding of the war with support for the troops. This is a totally false equation which exploits the presence of the troops in Iraq as a means of keeping the war going forward. The war can go on forever on the pretext of supporting the troops. The fact is that the only principled way to support the troops is to bring the troops home. Keeping the troops in Iraq supports the interests of Halliburton, defense contractors and oil companies, not the troops.

“With the Presidential veto, Congress has one more opportunity to end the war. We should tell the President that we will not provide any more funds for the war. He must then use the money in the pipeline to bring the troops home.

“The Administration will then be forced to close the bases, end the occupation and bring the troops home. The Administration will then be obliged to reach out to the nations of the region to put together a peace keeping and security force to stabilize Iraq.

“Congress must not give another dime for this war. We have an obligation to the American people to bring the troops home now.”