Iraq: pressure for withdrawal grows
[from The Note]
On the other big political issue of the week =96 Iraq =96 Karl Rove and =
company are steamed that Tuesday’s meeting between President Bush and =
House Republican moderates became public knowledge, the Hill’s =
Jonathan Kaplan reports. LINK
But no reading of the riot act will change underlying concerns about =
the war, and the list of fed-up Republicans is only growing. LINK
Perhaps it’s a coincidence that the president is now talking for the =
first time about accepting “benchmarks” for the Iraqi government as =
part of a war-funding bill. (Bush aides say there’s no change in the =
president’s position, but that’s what they always say.) The White =
House knows that yesterday’s war-funding vote could be the last time =
the GOP sticks together on Iraq, presidential veto threats aside.
But the story with the biggest implications yesterday can be told =
with a single eye-popping number: 171. That’s the number of House =
members who voted to cut off funding for the war, keeping money in =
place only to bring home virtually all US troops within 90 days. It =
was all about giving liberals a vote on ending the war, and House =
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D- =
Md.) parted ways, but let that sink in: Two Republicans joined 169 =
Democrats - more than 70 percent of the caucus =96 in voting to CUT OFF =
FUNDING FOR THE WAR. Looks like those fears of being painted as anti- =
defense are dissipating fast.