Forcing American Democracy on Iraq

When we invaded Iraq in March of 2003, most Americans backed the presidents plan of overthrowing Saddam Hussein's brutal dictatorship. But should we have been so willing to accept the presidents decision? A deep look points out that maybe we should have stayed home and fixed our own democracy before forcing it on unwilling countries.

The democracy that Americans have come to accept is far from what are forefathers intended. Our democracy is so morally decayed it may never be saved from ruin. We have come to the point that teacher/student sex is widespread, politicians having affairs with interns and hookers is weekly news, violence in schools is at epidemic proportions and the news reporting about our children's role model getting another slap on the wrist for a driving under the influence is constant.

Where has America's morals gone? Is that the kind of democracy we need to be spreading worldwide?

Under the Hussein regime, which was admittedly a very brutal regime, Iraqis did have a sense of life. The fathers would go to work, the kids would go to school, the mothers would go to the market and the families would pray with little fear. Now fear rules Iraq and doing a simple chore like going to the market makes a family wonder if they could be walking into their death of a suicide bombing. And that is the people who can afford the market. Very few people have any money because we have bombed every school, place of employment and mosque.

So will Iraq ever end their civil war and have peace? Not while we are there. The people of Iraq have no interest in the corrupt model of democracy we have laid for them to follow. Will they ever grasp democracy by the horns and reap the benefits? They just might someday, but we better hope that it is better than our morally decayed version.

Our country needs to stop policing the world and come home and fix ourselves. Not one person should go homeless, uninsured and unable to afford higher education if we can afford to drop 10 million dollar bombs around the globe.

Dennis Kucinich talks about Labor

Dennis Kucinich talks about Labor

My vote to authorize the War in Iraq was a mistake and I want to change it.....

Those are words muttered by a few of the Democratic Presidential hopefuls. But are they really sorry or they just playing to whatever the increasing number of Americans want to hear. Lets take a quick examination and see what we come up with.

John Edwards voted to authorize the war and now seems to be the most outspoken of his regretfulness of that vote. But you have to remember that he can say he has been against the war soon after the initial vote because we will never know how he would have votedthe past half dozen war appropriations. Could it be that he is jobless, his political tank is running on empty, and he is making that one last push for the dream. That would be my guess.

Chris Dodd also voted to authorize the war and has had a change of heart here of late. Up until the last appropriations for the war, Senator Dodd had continued to support the war after voting for it initially. But once it became clear that the Iraq War was going to be a central issue of this campaign due to its increasing unpopulatrity, he jumped to the side of calling his Iraq vote a mistake. Dodd has been a senator of Connecticut for the past 26 years. The 5 term senator is now 63 years old meaning he isn't a spring chicken anymore. My guess is he is fulfilling a dream of his that he can say he once ran for president and hopefully get himself a cabinet position.

Hillary Clinton also voted to authorize the War in Iraq and has had a change in heart towards the war yet can't admit her vote as a mistake, she rather word it I was tricked. Up until the last appropriations for the war, Senator Clinton had continued to support the war after voting for it initially. Senator Clinton though is a rock star and the way she does things are scripted and always right according to MSM. The New York senator never answers the question and veers completely off course when asked it. But what do you expect from a repubocrat. She is big money, she is what republicans want, as she will be a deer in headlights if she makes it to the general election.

When looking at the big picture maybe they did make a mistake and sincerely regret their vote, but it was a crucial mistake that has cost 3700 American lives to date. And if you make a mistake to that degree you should not even be considered for the highest office in the land. Costing 3700 brave men and women their lives is a mistake we can not take a chance of happening again. They were supplied the intel and if they didn't read all the intel, then they should actually be fired from the posts they currently do hold,if any, because they failed there constituents.

*AN HONEST ANSWER* DENNIS KUCINICH JULY 24, 2007

On July 24, 2007, Dennis Kucinich appeared on MSNBC to explain his answer "Democrats Have Failed the American People on Iraq", that he made the night before, to a question that he was asked at the CNN/YouTube debate.

Dennis Kucinich - Text for Peace

"You can vote NOW to end the war in Iraq. Text PEACE to 73223 to send a message to the White House and to the Democratic Congress that now's the time to end the war. Make your vote count and your voice be heard."

Which Presedential Candidate votes the way that you would vote?

With the 2008 Presidential Election fast approaching it is time to know your candidates before you cast that all important vote for one of them. One issue doesn't make a candidate, it is the combination of all the issues as a whole that should be your decider.

Mainstream media picks frontrunners and plasters their faces front and center for everyone to see. But do they really vote for your values? The best way to find out is to dig through their past voting records to see their history on the issues. That can be a daunting task digging through past votes at many different levels of politics. Thankfully there is a site that has eliminated all the work for us and we just answer a few questions and it spits out the data.

Try it out for yourself, it may suprise you who has voted when it counts the way you would have voted. Click the link and it will open up a new window.

http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008.html

I took the test and I have been supporting the right candidate from the get go. Dennis kucinich votes the way I would vote 71% of the time.

My results:

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Dennis Kucinich (71%)
3. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (70%)
4. Barack Obama (66%)
5. Christopher Dodd (61%)
6. Joseph Biden (60%)
7. Hillary Clinton (58%)
8. John Edwards (58%)
9. Wesley Clark (not announced) (57%)
10. Al Gore (not announced) (56%)
11. Bill Richardson (51%)
12. Mike Gravel (49%)
13. Ron Paul (47%)
14. Michael Bloomberg (not announced) (46%)
15. Elaine Brown (33%)
16. Kent McManigal (campaign suspended) (31%)
17. Mike Huckabee (29%)
18. Tommy Thompson (27%)
19. John McCain (27%)
20. Rudolph Giuliani (22%)
21. Mitt Romney (22%)
22. Chuck Hagel (not announced) (17%)
23. Sam Brownback (16%)
24. Duncan Hunter (16%)
25. Newt Gingrich (not announced) (16%)
26. Tom Tancredo (16%)
27. Fred Thompson (not announced) (15%)
28. Jim Gilmore (withdrawn) (13%)

Kucinich: Interim Progress Report Confirms Now Is the Time to Begin Bringing Our Troops Home

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

Kucinich: Interim Progress Report Confirms Now Is the Time to Begin Bringing Our Troops Home

Washington, Jul 12 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement following President Bush’s news conference on the Iraq benchmark interim progress report the White House issued today.

“The Administration has been downplaying the significance of this report all week because they knew the news was grim,” Kucinich said. “The President claims that pulling the troops out now would be dangerous to the region. Isn’t the U.S. occupation already counterproductive to the region? There are more than 3,600 Americans and an estimated one million innocent Iraqis dead because of our continued presence there!

“We do not have to fund the war. We must tell the President NO to any additional funding. No legislation is required. No vote is required. We have the money to bring the troops home. It does not require a vote. The only thing required is honesty, integrity and a willingness to end the war.

“The report states the Iraqi government is not making satisfactory progress toward enacting a law that would privatize their own oil. There has been a broad deception about the content of the hydrocarbon law, a deception which has taken in Members of Congress and the media.

“Misdescribed tactically as a revenue sharing plan, it is in fact a radical plan to privatize Iraq’s oil. The attempted theft of the oil assets of Iraq under the guise of a plan to end the war will keep the war going long into the future.

“The President has requested additional time for his Iraq strategy. Time for what? Time to privatize Iraq’s oil? Time to change the subject with an attack on Iran? Congress must act to end this war and end it now.”

Kucinich: Troop Redeployment Bill Will Not End The War

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

Kucinich: Troop Redeployment Bill Will Not End The War
The Only Way To End The War Is To Say NO To Any Additional Funding

Washington, Jul 12 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) issued the following statement following his vote against HR 2956, the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act.

“We’ve lost over 3,600 of our brave service men and women. An estimated one million innocent Iraqis have perished in the war. We’re now telling Iraqis, whose country the U.S. destroyed, whose reconstruction funds the U.S. mishandled, whose social networks have been shredded: Stand on your own feet! We try to steal their oil under the cover of occupation,” Kucinich said in a debate on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today.

“This bill will not end the war. This bill will not end the occupation. It doesn’t take a vote to end this war. We must inform the Administration that the $97 billion appropriated last month is the end of the financing for the war.

“Use the money that’s in the pipeline through October 1 to bring the troops home. Compel the President to put together an international peacekeeping and security force which would move in as our troops leave.

“We could have our troops home by October 1. The question is whether we are ready to take a stand to do that, or whether we are going to vote on resolutions that give the American people the appearance that we want to end the war, without actually addressing the central issue that will end the war. Stop the funding.”

President Bush Visits Cleveland But Keeps Making War

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

President Bush Visits Cleveland But Keeps Making War
Kucinich Says Domestic Agenda Consumed by Iraq War

Washington, Jul 10 - As President Bush visits the Congressional District of Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today, the Ohio Congressman called on the President to start paying attention to the needs of America’s cities, listen to a majority of the American people and end the war in Iraq.

"The President’s visit to the Cleveland area was allegedly to focus on a non-existent domestic agenda. But even when he comes to one of America’s most economically distressed areas, all he has to offer is more war. Like many American cities, Cleveland and its inner ring suburbs, like Parma, have been ignored while the President prosecutes this illegal war. The entire domestic agenda but been pushed aside because of the war. This President is intent on staying in Iraq, through the end of his term, so he can use America’s military to privatize Iraq’s oil,” Kucinich said.

Earlier this year, Congress gave the President $97 billion in additional funding to keep the war going through October 1, 2007. This week, the U.S. Senate is expected to take up its version of the 2008 defense authorization bill, which would authorize more than $600 billion in defense spending -- with an additional $127 billion authorized for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“This Democratic Congress, which was elected to end the war, must take a stand. It must tell the President that it will provide no more funds. The only way to end this war is to refuse to provide more funding. Threatening the Iraqis that we will pull out unless they privatize their oil is a plan for unending war. We must tell the President NOW there will be no more funds. He must go to the international community and put together an international peacekeeping and security mission to stabilize Iraq as the U.S. troops leave. These are the elements of a plan which I have been offering for the past four years,” Kucinich said.

“The Senate, unfortunately, is in the middle of another one of its famous fake debates on the war. We do not have to have a vote on whether or not there is to be more funding. The money is in the pipeline right now to end the war and bring our troops home. We can simply refuse to provide a bill which appropriates more money for the Iraq war. This President must be held accountable. This Congress must also be held accountable. The American people are waiting for us to provide real leadership to show the way out of Iraq. And our troops are waiting to see if we care more about their precious lives than about party politics,” Kucinich concluded.

Kucinich: Iraq Four Years Too Long

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

Kucinich: Iraq Four Years Too Long
Can Iran Be Far Behind?

Washington, Jul 10 - Following President Bush’s town hall meeting from Cleveland, Ohio, today, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement:

“The President has requested additional time for his Iraq strategy. Time for what? Time to privatize Iraq’s oil? Time to change the subject with an attack on Iran? Congress must act to end this war and end it now.

“We must tell the President NO to any additional funding. No legislation is required. No vote is required. The only thing required is honesty, integrity and a willingness to end the war.

“The war is based on lies. The President and the Vice President have no credibility whatsoever on matters relating to our national defense. They sent more than 3,600 of our brave men and women to their deaths. They are responsible for creating the conditions that have led to the deaths of an estimated one million innocent Iraqis. They have set in motion spending for Iraq which could top one trillion dollars. They now have three aircraft carriers in the Gulf (although some news reports claim that one carrier will leave the area), setting the stage for an attack on Iran.

“What will it take for Congress to wake up and tell the American people the truth? We do not have to fund the war. We have the money to bring the troops home. It does not require a vote. It requires determination and truth,” Kucinich concluded.

*I'M THE PEACE CANDIDATE IN THIS RACE* DENNIS KUCINICH!

On 6/19/2007, Dennis Kucinich appeared on MSNBC to talk about why peace will perval and how it will spring him into the presidency in 2008 as he is the "TRUE" peace candidate.

DENNIS KUCINICH AMERICA MUST LEAVE IRAQ A.S.A.P.!

On 6/13/2007, Dennis Kucinich appeared on Tucker to talk about leaving Iraq ASAP.

It's Congress' War Now

Dennis Kucinich - Reports from Washington

Kucinich: Congress Endorses Blackmail of Iraq

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

Kucinich: Congress Endorses Blackmail of Iraq

Washington, May 24 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) hosted a news conference this afternoon with Antonia Juhasz, visiting scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, and Denice Lombard, U.S. Labor Against the War, to discuss implications of Congress insisting on benchmarks in the Iraq supplemental that include passage of the Iraqi “hydrocarbon act.” The hydrocarbon act forces the Iraqis to privatize their oil. Below are the remarks from his speech:

“The Democrats will have an opportunity today to vote in support of, or against, the blackmail of Iraq. A vote for the benchmarks is a vote to demand the privatization of Iraqi oil.

“The House of Representatives will consider yet another version of the Iraq war funding legislation. Not only will Congress give the President another blank check, despite the new Democratic majority, Congress will also endorse the blackmail of Iraq.

“The benchmarks in today’s war supplemental force the Iraqis to privatize their oil industry by demanding passage of the Iraqi “Hydrocarbon Act.” The war supplemental blocks over a billion dollars in reconstruction funds if the Iraqis refuse to comply.

“This administration has misled Congress into thinking that pending Iraqi legislation before their Parliament is about fair distribution of oil revenues. In fact, except for three scant lines, the entire 33-page hydrocarbon law creates a structure to facilitate the privatization of Iraq’s oil.

“The truth is that the “Hydrocarbon Act” will open Iraq’s oil reserves to foreign investors, giving them, and not the Iraqi people, the ability to develop the majority of Iraq’s 80 known oil fields. The Iraq National Oil Company would maintain control of only approximately 17 of these oil fields.

“If this happens, Iraq will be the only country in the Middle East that does not maintain government control of its own oil industry.

“The wealth of Iraq, their rich oil resources, should remain in the hands of Iraq for the benefit of the Iraqi people.

“Passage of any legislation that includes insisting that the Iraq Government push the passage of a hydrocarbon act puts this Congress on record to promote privatizing Iraq's oil.

“Congress must stop all attempts by the Administration to allow multinational oil companies to take over Iraq’s oil resources.

“This is equivalent to blackmail and sends a strong message that the United States is not in Iraq to help the Iraqi people or defend democracy, but that this war is solely about oil.

“I would like to believe that this war has not been about oil. I would like to believe that there was some kind of a righteous cause connected to what we did; but I know better, and the proof is in this Hydrocarbon Act.

“I am here to say that there is another path that can be taken, and that path is part of H.R. 1234, a bill that I have written that would enable the war to end by Congress determining that no more money will go for this war, telling the administration that it must open up diplomatic relations with Syria and Iran, and moving in a direction where we put together an international peacekeeping and security force that would move in as our troops leave.

“And then we set the stage for real reconciliation that cannot come with the U.S. serving as an occupying army.

“We have a moral responsibility to the Iraqi people whose country we have ravaged with war to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars of damage.

“Congress must put a stop to the exploitation of Iraq and ensure reconstruction of a nation now in shambles.”

Kucinich: Blood Money

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

Kucinich: Blood Money

Washington, May 24 - WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 24) — Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement after voting against a House amendment crafted to facilitate passage of the Iraq supplemental in Congress. The amendment was designed, among other things, to provide for an increase in the minimum wage. A separate amendment, which Kucinich also voted against, provided funding for the war. The two amendments will be joined in the Senate.

Tying the latest Iraq Supplemental funding plan to an increase in the minimum wage is a new benchmark for cynicism, even by Washington, DC standards.

“It tells American workers that the only way they will get an increase in wages is to continue to support funding the war which is taking the lives of their sons and daughters.

“First blood for oil. Now a minimum wage for maximum blood. Aren’t the American people giving enough blood for this war without having to give more to have a wage increase?

“What’s happened to our country? We are losing our moral compass. We’re losing our sense of justice. We’re losing touch with the difference between right and wrong.

“We do not have to continue to fund this war. We must leave Iraq now. Support our troops and bring them home. HR 1234 is a plan to end the war and stabilize Iraq and give Iraqis control of their oil.

“We must take a new path. We must take a path of truth and justice.”

Kucinich: While Washington Sleeps, Effort to Privatize Iraq’s Oil Continues

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

Kucinich: While Washington Sleeps, Effort to Privatize Iraq’s Oil Continues

Washington, May 18 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today’s Washington Post had a headline story “Bush Open to Iraq Benchmarks.” Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) issued the following statement:

“The benchmarks include a provision, which would lead to privatization of Iraq’s oil wealth. The President is open to such legislation because it is his idea. He and the Vice President have consistently misled the Congress on this matter, attempting variously to mask the privatization scheme as ‘equitable revenue sharing’ and as a means toward ‘reconciliation.’ This is a grand deception.

“While the media is paying close attention to the process of negotiations between the Administration and Congress, very few are looking at the most substantive issue in all the benchmarks: The attempt to force Iraq to privatize its oil, a provision open for all who can read to see in the text of the bill before the Iraqi Parliament.

“Congress has had little or no examination of the consequences of the benchmark which calls for Iraq to pass a Hydrocarbon Act. It isn’t asking questions and the President isn’t telling.

“Of course the President isn’t ruling out punishing the Iraqi government for not reaching benchmarks, because his Administration has deceitfully linked concepts of reconciliation and equitable oil revenue sharing to the passage of the Hydrocarbon Act which leads to privatization of Iraq’s oil wealth!

“Democrats have denied they are for anything which privatizes Iraq’s oil, which means they may be largely unaware of what the consequences in the bill are because of Mr. Bush’s deception.

“This entire matter about control of Iraq’s oil would be a farce, if it were not so tragic in its implication. First, Congress wanted benchmarks because the President wanted them. Now the President wants benchmarks because Congress wants them. Who is the father of this baby?!

“Meanwhile Congress prepares to continue to fund the war while the White House crafts a ‘bipartisan consensus’ to force Iraq to show “progress,” meaning Iraq gives up control of its oil. This war will never end if Iraqis believe we are trying to steal their oil, and, given the substance of the Hydrocarbon Act, how could they believe anything else?”

Kucinich on Supplemental: It’s About Oil

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

Kucinich on Supplemental: It’s About Oil

Washington, May 10 - WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 10) — Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement after the passage of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007:

“There has been a broad deception about the content of the hydrocarbon law, a deception which has taken in members of Congress and the media. Misdescribed tactically as a revenue sharing plan, it is in fact a radical plan to privatize Iraq’s oil.

“The law before the Iraq Parliament contains 3 vague lines about revenue sharing and 33 solid pages of a complex legal restructuring, facilitating the privatization of Iraq’s oil resources. The sharing will not be 1/3 of 100%. The sharing is more likely to be 1/3 of 20% at most, after private oil interests take their cut. The stage is being set for theft on a historic scale.

“Iraq may have as much as 300 billion barrels of oil to be tapped. At a market value of $70 a barrel, the value of its oil may approach $21 trillion.

“In the past twenty four hours the Vice President made an extraordinary trip to Baghdad to urge the Iraqi Parliament to stay in session to pass a “hydrocarbon law” which provides for “revenue sharing.” Today, President Bush explicitly mentioned that he could come to an agreement if it included a benchmark for “sharing oil reserves.” This is the tone of the legislation which the House passed tonight.

“The legislative debate between the Congressional Democrats and the Republicans misses the point of the key issue regarding the invasion, occupation and long term US presence in Iraq - - oil.

“The attempted theft of the oil assets of Iraq under the guise of a plan to end the war will keep the war going long into the future.

“This is the time to be taking steps to end the U.S. occupation, stabilize Iraq, and give Iraqis full control of their oil assets.”

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

Washington, May 9 - WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 9) — Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement after President Bush’s press secretary Tony Snow stated the President would veto the Iraq supplemental spending bill:

“The President put us into this war and he continues to insist that Congress send him a blank check despite the fact that the American people want out of Iraq now.

“Congress should not give the President another dime to continue his misadventure in Iraq. The only way to end this war is to refuse to appropriate any more funds. Refusing to appropriate money would force an end to the war and allow an expeditious return of our troops.

“Congress has the constitutional authority to end this war. Every time Congress appropriations more money, they are voting to continue the Iraq war.

“The President has made it clear from the start that he has no intention of withdrawing from Iraq. His 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 more than four years ago, has been a colossal failure.

“HR 1234 provides a plan for bringing the troops home, ending the occupation and stabilizing Iraq.”

Congress Has Not Accomplished Its Mission

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

Congress Has Not Accomplished Its Mission
We Must Stop Funding The War

Washington, May 1 - WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 1) — Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) gave the following speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today:

“Four years ago the President declared ‘mission accomplished.’

“I would ask the President, whose mission was accomplished by the invasion and occupation of Iraq? Was Halliburton’s mission accomplished? Was the oil companies’ mission accomplished? Was the defense contractors’ mission accomplished?

“I was at Arlington Cemetery this morning where so many of our brave young men and women responded to the call of duty. Their mission was to put their lives on the line for America. They accomplished their mission.

“This Congress has not accomplished its mission. We must stop funding the war. We must end the occupation. We must use the money in the pipeline to bring our troops home.

“We must reach out to the nations of the region to create an international peace keeping and security force to stabilize Iraq. And we must bring to justice, under our Constitution and under the laws of this nation, those in high office who took us into a war based on lies.

“Then we will have accomplished our mission. Then we will have restored America’s honor and greatness.”

In October 2002, Kucinich performed an analysis that proved the Administration led the United States to war based on a long list of falsifications.

On February 28, 2007, Kucinich introduced HR 1234 -- a plan for the United States to use existing money to bring the troops and necessary equipment home and transition to an international security and peacekeeping force.

Kucinich first introduced a withdrawal plan from Iraq three years ago when he proposed that the United States hand the United Nations control of Iraq, including its oil resources and contracts for rebuilding.

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.”