E Tu, Bushie - The House begins debate on the Iraq resolution

This is an historic day in American history. For the first time, goaded by mismanagement of the Iraq war and hatred of a sitting president, the US Congress is beginning debate on what amounts to a vote of no confidence during wartime in the form of a non-binding resolution opposing President Bush's `surge' plan to send more troops to Iraq.

The resolution says “Congress and the American people” support U.S troops in Iraq. It goes on to say that Congress “disapproves'' of the troop buildup.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged fellow lawmakers to leave “personal and partisan attacks” out of the debate over the non-binding resolution scheduled over the next three days, with a vote set for Friday.

Hey, that'll happen, with all the cameras rolling and the dinosaur press hungry for soundbites.

The fix is pretty much in that it will pass.

I can appreciate the disillusionment with the Bush Administration's policies, and I certainly have no problem with these people expressing their views...but a non-binding resolution is a particularly gutless way of doing it.

In the days leading up to this week's debate, Republican House members attempted to open the question up to a broader debate covering not only the president's plan to deploy another 21,500 troops, but the far touchier issue of funding for forces already on the ground, since the House members know know that they will have to vote on another $100 billion in supplemental funding for the war in less than a month.

The House Democrats stifled those efforts because they lack the basic courage to endure any political fallout for their convictions.

Thus, the current resolution accomplishes nothing but to destroy the morale of our troops and tell our enemies that all they have to do is wait us out. And I am not only speaking about the terrorists in Iraq.

“Over the next few days, we have an opportunity to show our enemies that we will not take the bait,” said Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican minority leader. He added: “Who doesn’t believe the terrorists will just follow our troops home?”

Congressman Boehner is quite correct in thinking that a retreat at this point will merely postpone things and eventually bring the war home to America.

Unfortunately, he is in the minority.