Two Questions About Iraq

[erpowers]

There are many people pushing the idea of defunding the Iraq war. I have a serious question about this tactic. Is there any chance that if the Democrats vote to defund the war Bush would be able to leave troops in Iraq without equipment? I have heard some people say that if Democrats just cut off the money the war will end. If the money stops will Bush be forced to take the troops out of Iraq, or are the supporters of this idea just hoping that Bush will be reasonable and remove the troops.

The second question is about Iraq's government. In recent days we all have heard a great deal about how Iraq's government is failing to do its part. In her latest Campaign Asslyum post Rachel Maddow seemed to argue that the reason the Iraqi government is not doing its part is that a foreign country's military is in their country. I do not think Maddow was trying to bash the U.S. military. I think she was just saying that no other country was able to have a functioning government with a foreign military in the countr. So, my question is would the Iraqi government work better if other foreign militaries were not in the country.

[mike_c]

1. regarding funds for war....

There are several issues that get lost in the simplistic noise we hear from war supporters. First and foremost, Congress has the constitutional right and duty to start and stop wars using the power of the purse-- if the Congress refuses to fund the war the executive must withdraw the military, and if Bush attempts to do otherwise he will precipitate a constitutional crisis like this country has not seen since the Civil War. The U.S. military takes its marching orders from the civilian gov't, which includes the Congress, not just the president.

Second, the Pentagon has contingency plans for an orderly withdrawal of forces using funds they already have. Remember, there is a regular defense appropriation for actually operating the military, supplying soldiers, normal maintenance, and so on-- that money is there no matter what. The additional funds Congress allocates for waging the war are above and beyond the normal operating budget, but even without those appropriations the military has more money than God, and stadiums full of staff officers making contingency plans. If the Congress says "no more funds for the war against Iraq," the generals are NOT going to abandon the troops to starve in the desert. Plan B will go into operation, and everything will be fine. Or at least as fine as it was the last time American foreign policy led to an ignoble withdrawal, i.e. Saigon.

All this noise about "abandoning the troops" is just political games, played by self-serving asshats who count on the public ignorance and gullibility.