Another McGovern takes on a war: Worcester representative mobilizes foes of Afghan surge

[Better Believe It]

Another McGovern takes on a war
Worcester representative mobilizes foes of Afghan surge
By Michael Kranish
Globe Staff / December 5, 2009

WASHINGTON - Representative James P. McGovern, a political activist since he was a schoolboy in Worcester, walked into his congressional office yesterday and proudly pointed to a 1972 presidential campaign poster on his wall: “We’ve been misled too often. Demand Truth. George McGovern.’’

Now the Massachusetts Democrat, a 50-year-old whose parents still own a liquor store in Worcester, is assuming his mentor’s mantle in more than name (they are not related). He has become one of the most outspoken opponents to President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy, putting forward proposals to cut off funding for the 30,000 additional troops Obama plans to send there and to demand a clear-cut exit strategy.

When most of the Massachusetts delegation met Wednesday night at a Chinese restaurant on Capitol Hill to discuss the Afghanistan strategy Obama had announced the night before, Kerry was openly in favor (although with some qualifications), while McGovern said he was strongly against it.

In May, McGovern vocally opposed a funding bill that included money for Obama’s request for 17,000 more troops in Afghanistan. McGovern’s action infuriated the White House. Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who had worked closely with McGovern during his time as a congressman from Illinois, screamed obscenities at him in a phone conversation, warning that the president’s agenda was at stake, according to McGovern. Emanuel did not respond to a request for comment.

That funding bill eventually passed, but McGovern then made another proposal that angered the White House. He authored a measure that would require the administration to provide Congress with a detailed “exit strategy’’ for the military to leave Afghanistan. In June, the measure failed, but gained 138 backers, including a majority of Democrats and seven Republicans. While this week, Obama proposed pulling out troops beginning in July 2011, McGovern said that “no one believes’’ that it is a commitment for withdrawal on that schedule.


Representative James McGovern and a poster on his mentor, Senator George McGovern

http://mcgovern.house.gov/index.html

Congressman McGovern Opposes U.S. Military Escalation in Afghanistan
Speech on floor of Congress
YouTube video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO0X80VuYBU&feature=player_embedded

Read the fulll article at:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/12/05/another_mcgovern_takes_on_a_war/