Hang Tough Dems

Do you think Russ Feingold reads this blog? Just joking, but it sure looks we are thinking alike in what to do now that Bush as shown America what he thinks of us.

The ink on the President's veto is barely dry, and already, a lot of Washington insiders - including some Democrats -- are saying Congress should just give in to the President. Never mind how hard people have pushed to bring Congress to this point, when we are finally standing up to the President's disastrous Iraq policy -- they want to give up on the binding language in the bill requiring the President to begin redeploying troops from Iraq. But that's just letting the President have his way all over again. That's the kind of thinking that got us into this war in the first place, and it's not going to cut it anymore.

We can't keep giving in to this Administration on Iraq. Every time the Administration gets its way, it means that our troops will remain stuck in the middle of Iraq's civil war, and our national security will continue to be undermined. With so many Americans demanding that our involvement in this war come to an end, backing down is not the answer. No one else should die in Iraq to give political comfort to dealmakers in Washington....

The next step to ending the war isn't to give in, but to step up the pressure on the President. I'm pleased to be working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on a bill to end our open-ended military commitment in Iraq. Now that the President has rejected the will of the American people with this veto, our bill, or some other proposal to end funding for a failed policy, should be the next step to end the war.

Russ Feingold is absolutely correct in this. Democrats need to hang tough, particularly to the deadline set in Feingold-Reid--the deadline recommended by the Iraq Study Group--for a withdrawal of troops by March 31, 2008. Bush is holding all of us hostage to his failure in Iraq most especially the troops on the ground in Iraq. Congress must not let him have his way. It would make the disaster of Iraq even more tragic.