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But I slander Periplaneta americana.

By Moe Lane Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (8) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

While we were busy, so were the Democrats (Via Glenn):

Pelosi, Reid to announce new push to end Iraq war

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are expected tomorrow to announce a new coordinated effort to force votes in July to end the Iraq war, according to Democratic insiders.

Reid has already publicly declared that Senate Democrats will offer four Iraq-related amendments to the upcoming 2008 Defense authorization bill, including a proposal by Reid and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) to set a firm timetable to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by next spring.

Pelosi is planning to announce that the House will also vote on a bill setting a new withdrawal timetable of April 1, 2008, although the details of the proposal were still up in the air at press time, according to Democratic sources. The House will consider this proposal as a freestanding bill, said the sources.

Pelosi is also planning to force a vote on a proposal by Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to repeal the 2002 use-of-force resolution for Iraq. This "deauthorization" proposal may be offered as an amendment to the 2008 Defense spending bill, which the House is scheduled to take up following the week-long July 4th recess.

In addition, House Democrats will push proposals to prohibit the creation of permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq, as well as a "readiness" initiative similar to that authored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.). The Webb proposal would limit deployments of U.S. soldiers and marines in Iraq by requiring the Pentagon to keep military units from being sent back to Iraq until they have been stateside as long as they were in the combat zone.

There's been three or four versions of this paragraph, mostly in various forms of snark - and snark that was not directed at the Democrats, mind you. But let's cut to the chase: this is important, and we have people on the front lines who are going to be hurt and killed if the Democratic leadership pushes any of this through. Both American and Iraqi. We have no time for pique - and that includes mine.

So I'm not going to shout, sneer or swing. I'm simply going to ask you to think about the things that are really important to you. And whether those things include the idea that our country is one that will keep its word, once given.

Your call.