Thursday night, Congress approved a war spending bill that would call for continued financial support for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan through September, without stipulating a timetable for troop withdrawal. Instead, a compromise was reached to set particular benchmarks on the progress of America’s missions in Iraq. Following that approval, Bush announced that he would sign the bill. Democrats in Congress, who were divided in the House but almost all approved the bill in the Senate, had varying feelings about the compromise. The reactions to this measure over the blogs were mixed; while some bloggers emphasized the Dems’ weakness and capitulation, others approved of this move as part of a game of political chess.
Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction writes that “I’m not so sure that a timetable is a great idea. Given that Iraq could descend into chaos and genocide post-withdrawal, even with some U.S. forces still there, a timetable would likely ensure that Democrats would end up taking much of the blame for making Iraq even worse than it is now, even if they don’t deserve it. In other words, this is one battle the Democrats may not want to win.”
Stickings is optimistic about the way it played out yesterday, as his Dems are now in a position to provide “both leadership and an alternative course of action” while avoiding “being sucked into the vortex of blame in response to this lost war.”
This vote seems to give presidential hopefuls the ability to align with their parties. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama quietly submitted their “nay” votes, showing a call for change while preparing for heat from Republicans later, while McCain along with most republicans voted “yea.”
Faithful Progressive shares Sticking’s optimism: “Bush didn’t just win this–he gave up a lot and must recognize that this is the last Iraq supplemental that will be approved. This bill represents progress, not the end to the war that many of us are hoping for–but progress nonetheless.”
Faithful Progressive calls out Obama and Clinton for weak leadership: “Frankly, I am not all that impressed with their leadership…The Democratic leadership has taken a lot of heat, but the real leadership should come from our Presidential candidates. Though this is an unpopular view–it looks like the Democratic leadership actually extracted quite a bit from Bush.”
On the conservative side, Captain’s Quarters expresses terse glee: “The Democratic-controlled Congress finally accomplished something after over four months of the 110th’s session.”
The Carpetbagger Report views the passage of this bill as a blunder, with the Dems bullied into acquiescence. It recommends that the Democrats, as the majority party, start playing offense: “Bush started this showdown saying, ‘I’ll accept nothing less than everything I want.’ From there, anxiety-ridden Dems said, ‘We’re willing to negotiate.’ Surprise, surprise, the immovable object didn’t move. If Dems are gearing up for another round, here’s a radical thought: stop being on the defensive.”
Eric Hirsch is a Columbia Journalism Review intern.