By Kenneth
J. Theisen, 3/13/07
Millions of Americans are hoping the
Democrats will stop the Bush regime from escalating the war in Iraq and from going to war against Iran. But
this is a dangerous illusion. We can see
how much they have accomplished on the first task and on the second they appear
to be doing everything possible to make war against Iran more likely. The military spending bill to further finance
the war in Iraq had language
requiring President Bush to get approval from Congress before launching war
against Iran.
But Democratic leaders in Congress are
stripping that requirement from the bill.
The war funding bill is scheduled for
a House Appropriations Committee vote on Thursday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed to remove
the requirement concerning Iran
before the vote. The bill will give the
Bush regime an additional $100 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, it gives Bush more money than he
requested for training and equipment shortages. The bill also calls for withdrawal of U.S. troops by
September 2008 with no real enforcement mechanism.
The proposal to limit Bush’s ability
to attack Iran
without Congressional approval was shot down in a series of back-room meetings
among Democrats last week. Many of those
who opposed the proposal expressed concern about Israel. They also said they did not want to limit the
administration’s hand in negotiations with Iran. Representative Shelley Berkley after talking about
the fear in Israel about Iran stated, “It would take away perhaps
the most important negotiating tool that the U.S.
has when it comes to Iran.
She made no mention of Israel’s vast
nuclear arsenal.
Another Democratic Representative,
Gary Ackerman stated, “I didn’t think it was a very wise idea to take
things off the table if you’re trying to get people to modify their behavior
and normalize it in a civilized way.” There
you have it. The president, who has
unleashed two aggressive wars against other countries, should not be limited in
launching a third such war when he is trying to get Iran to act in “a civilized way.”
The
Democrats will not stop the war in Iraq
and they will not stop the Bush regime from launching a war against Iran. They will appeal to misguided sympathy for Israel and talk about strengthening U.S. diplomacy to stop Iran from
acquiring nuclear weapons. But make no mistake, they are allowing the Bush regime to continue its policy of death and
destruction and they are doing it in your
name. What are you going to do to
stop this coming war?