Politics Jim McDermott’s Plan to End the War
posted by on February 6 at 18:22 PM
Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott plans to try to force an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq by attaching an amendment to an upcoming war-funding bill.
However, if McDermott’s new amendment follows the same trajectory as the 1970 amendment that it’s modeled after, it won’t get very far (see the jump).
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) announced today that he will introduce legislation aimed at bringing an end to U.S. involvement in the Iraq War patterned after the 1970 McGovern-Hatfield Amendment that marked the turning point in ending the Vietnam War.“The lesson of history is clear and unmistakable,” McDermott said: “The President’s escalation of the Iraq War is no different than the escalation of the Vietnam War and the outcome will be the same, more American lives lost.” McDermott added, “It is time to begin the end of the Iraq War; the President won’t do it; Congress must.”
McDermott explained that the McGovern-Hatfield Amendment, although it did not pass, marked a turning point and the beginning of the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The original amendment set a deadline for termination of U.S. military operations, after which funding could only be used for the safe and orderly withdrawal of U.S. forces. McDermott said he will offer a similar amendment when an appropriation request for the Iraq war comes to the House.McDermott announced his intention in a speech delivered in the House of Representatives today. In it, he recalled the words spoken by Senator George McGovern on September 1, 1970, when the McGovern-Hatfield Amendment was introduced: "It does not take any courage at all for a congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those young men and their lives and their hopes.
"And if we do not end this damnable war those young men will some day curse us for our pitiful willingness to let the Executive carry the burden that the Constitution places on us."
McDermott said the President's escalation in Iraq will only cost more U.S. lives lost and called on colleagues to pass the amendment when it is introduced: "I believe we must apply the lessons of history and begin to end a damnable war that never needed to be fought in the first place."
Damn, I don't know whether to ridicule McDermott for his unoriginality, or praise him for his brilliance.
I hope it doesn't take another FIVE YEARS to "follow the trajectory" as it did in 1970.
I guess he gets an A for effort, but he'll get like ten votes, if he even manages to bring it to the floor.
Every vote counts, even those of the Red Commie Bushies trying to keep us digging deeper into the hole they built in Iraq, even as they try to lie to us about Iran.
You're either with America and Jim McDermott, or you're against us. Period.
This is political theater as bad as Bush's surge. Repeat after me: Iraq is not Vietnam. It isn't Korea either, nor Japan or Germany after World War II.
Want a relevant comparison: try the Philippines after the US "victory" in the Philippine-American War. US troops defeated the Philippine military in a mere three years, and then fought a decade of guerrilla warfare after the war was won. How did we win the guerrilla confict? Taking no prisoners, burning whole villages, concentration camps, torture, and all around repression of the civilian population until the insurgents gave up.
I'm not advocating a return to these tactics, but we should at least be honest with ourselves what "winning Iraq" would mean.
Much like the Iraq and the Middle East in our era, the Philippines played a key role in projecting US power into the Pacific. Simply leaving either would have severe strategic consequences.
Why aren't the Democrats proposing something serious? Here would be my plan:
* Pull our troops out of urban areas and FOBs. Focus intensely on securing desolate border regions and supply routes, where our airpower can be used to achieve total military superiority.
* Start an all out crash scientific and industrial program, on the scale of the Manhattan or Apollo projects, to completely replace all fossil fuels with completely renewable sources within a decade. Pay for it with an across-the-board carbon tax.
Remember, it was Sunnis from Saudi Arabia and Egypt (primarily) that attacked us on 9/11. Let's kick the chair out from under them by making oil, and the Mid East, totally irrelevant to our economy. We're losing playing by the rules right now. Let's change them.
Comments Closed
In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 14 days old).