House Votes in Favor of Withdrawal from Iraq
The AP reports that the US House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill, yesterday, calling for a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. If Bush were to accept the bill, the US would begin withdrawing troops this fall.
Of course, there is no chance in hell that Bush will allow this to happen: he will swiftly veto this bill.
I have to say that I find it to be increasingly worrisome that I do not truly hear the Democrats about what will happen to / in Iraq once the US starts withdrawing forces. They can be anti-war and believe that it is a horrible mess in Iraq right now, but today’s situation is nothing compared to what will happen once there are no, or virtually no, American troops in Iraq left.
What about the humanitarian crisis that will cause?
The only thing I hear every now and then is that “our troops” (meaning US soldiers) shouldn’t be “in the middle of a civil war.” Guess what - if the US would not have invaded Iraq, there would be no civil war right now. Granted, a ruthless dictator would then be ruling which is horrible as well, but fact of the matter is that the US has a responsibility to bring about stability to Iraq, no matter what, and / or how long it takes.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the 75,000 troops plan is a good one, better, the least bad one. Also - the attitude of the Democrats is starting to worry me. They act as if they care about the fate of the Iraqi people, and I am willing to believe them, but I cannot help but notice that they seem to care less about the Iraqi people, than about scoring points at the home front.
I would like Democrats who votes in favor of this bill to answer this question: what will happen to Iraq once the US withdraws and how to prevent mass slaughter from happening?
This post is worded a bit blunty, I am aware of that, but this is a serious issue and these questions need to be answered.
More at The Moderate Voice (great post about the political implications), The Newshoggers (I haven’t forgot about the post about terrorism / radicalization in Europe), The American Street and Blue Crab Boulevard.
Also keep an eye on Memeorandum.
I was going to respond to this post in detail, but it essentially covers the same territory as yesterday’s post on Iraq, so I’ll refer you to my response there.
And completely off topic, I have to ask Michael about two things I heard from a recent visitor to Holland that I find hard to believe:
1. Around Easter it was 90F in Amsterdam. Awfully hot for Europe in spring, isn’t it?
2. They have electronic signs that change the speed limit according to traffic. This seems a bit unwieldy, although Holland is small enough to make it work.
1- yes it’s now about 30 degrees celcius as well.
2- yes. and it does work.
(3- yes, smoking marijuana is tolerated)
1. Wow, I always thought of Europe as kind of cool and rainy, like England is supposed to be. But I know London can get very hot.
2. Not surprising, in a country you can drive across in only two and a half hours. Wouldn’t work here, with 47,000 miles of interstates.
3. Didn’t even ask about this one, already knew the answer.
it is cool and rainy really, we just have a freaky spring. Last year same thing, this year even ‘worse’. Breaking all records (same thing last year, but it’s getting ‘worse’).
No global warming my ass