Anti-Surge Resolution

Well things are heating up in the House and now in the Senate on George Bush's surge and the Iraq War. The House debate has been quite illuminating with numerous excellent speeches on the Democratic side. Check out Pelosi's blog at The Gavel for some of these speeches via YouTube. You can see the Democratic talking points here. The Democrats have been on the mark with regards to the failings to date, the inability of this administration to formulate or execute any kind of plan, and the inadequacy of the "surge" to accomplish anything and the general popular opposition to the war. The Republicans, on the other hand, are in an absurd position. They have failed to argue that the current plan has any reasonable chance of success. Instead they are apparently arguing that the overall objective is so important we must stick with this plan, which has no chance of success. This makes no sense. If the ultimate objective is so important (Western civilization apparently hangs in the balance) then it is vital that the plan be one that will work. The vote in the House will certainly be in favor of the anti-surge resolution. The Democrats are solid and the following Republicans are already on board as well

1. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest
2. Rep. Mike Castle
3. Rep. Jim Ramstad
4. Rep. Ric Keller
5. Rep. Ron Paul
6. Rep. John Duncan
7. Rep. Steve Latourette
8. Rep. Phil English
9. Rep. Fred Upton
10. Rep. Walter Jones
11. Rep. Howard Coble

That makes eleven that I can account for. These were pretty much all found over at TPM.

Both Sen. Clinton and Speaker Pelosi are making clear that Bush most certainly does not have Congressional authorization for his war with Iran. In spite of all the bluster and sabre rattling of the past few weeks, few folks are giving this administration much credibility. Now I also see that Rep. John Murtha will be using his position to keep the administration on the straight and narrow and to prevent further escalation. A lot of people have been complaining that the Democrats are not immediately ending this war, but the fact of the matter is that the political opposition needs to be built first. Two thirds of both houses could be needed to bring things to a stop. The good news is that the political opposition is building and is becoming quite substantial. We will see that in the House on Friday.

Furthermore, it looks like we will be seeing it too in the Senate on Saturday. After the Republicans derailed debate on the war last week, but Sen. Harry Reid is going to force a vote on Saturday on whatever the House passes on Friday. The Senate Republicans, it seems, may have to debate this war after all.