Dems on Iraq Escalation: Real Action or Empty Symbolism? TAKE ACTION NOW

The Democrats we elected to Congress have a clear-cut choice in how they represent us in response to Bush's misbegotten plan to escalate the Iraq War by adding more than 20,000 troops to the bloody mix. Given their unfortunate recent history of spineless equivocating and empty gestures on Iraq, we shouldn't be surprised that most of them seem to be partial to passing a nonbinding resolution offered by Sen. Joe Biden urging Bush not to increase troops in Iraq -- meaningless symbolism at its most cowardly.

Many Dems are claiming that passing anything that actually would preclude Bush from acting or legally shape how he proceeds would be unconstitutional or beyond their powers. This would include Sen. Ted Kennedy's proposal (video above) to require that "no additional troops can be sent and no additional dollars can be spent on such an escalation unless and until Congress approves the president's plan." Also read Sen. Kennedy's Daily Kos diary about his bill.

Golly gee, I guess we should give the Dems a break because Rove et al. would label them "cut and run" or "weak on defense" if they took any genuine action against Bush's latest Iraq wet dream. Why take that risk when you can sit back and let the troops caught in a chaotic civil war take all the risks? Mere life and limb are at stake for the troops. Certainly we can't blame the hapless Dems for ignoring that and thinking only of themselves and political spin. Do we really have the nerve to stop them from refusing to take any responsibility in the real world for what goes on over there?

What Bingaman and Udall Have to Say
Our own Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Udall are apparently in the better to refuse to act than do the right thing camp, as reported in an article in this morning's Albuquerque Journal:

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said members of Congress who oppose a U.S. troop surge, including himself, should make the case to Bush as clearly as possible, but he doubted the Kennedy bill would work.

"As a matter of constitutional law it's very hard to make the case that the president cannot add troops to the troops already there," Bingaman said in a weekly phone talk with radio reporters. "As commander-in-chief he has that authority."

... Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said he "likes capping the number of troops" sent to Iraq, but wasn't sure if the House Democratic caucus would coalesce around such a proposal. He also pointed out that Bush could simply veto the Kennedy legislation if Congress passed it.

Yes, Rep. Udall, but that's beside the point. We at least would have The Decider on record bucking the duly passed legislation on this war right in front of a citizenry where only about 11% support his boosting the troop level. If nothing else, it would give those voting for stopping Bush in his tracks credibility and respect on the world stage and here at home.

Excuses Without Merit
Are the naysayers really too young to remember the Viet Nam War or even Reagan's fiasco in Lebanon? In both cases the Congress effectively passed limitations on troop funding and other aspects of the operations. What's different now? Only that the more courageous Dems of those eras have been replaced by the blow-dried blowhard variety so characteristic of today's irresponsible and still out of touch Congress.

Congress didn't even declare war in this instance, opting instead to grant Bush war powers constitutionally reserved for the Congress. However, as Kennedy and others are pointing out, the Iraq War resolution transferred these war powers on the basis of very narrow circumstances and goals: to get rid of Saddam because of the threat of his WMDs. The resolution in no way should be construed to mean that Bush should also have free rein in sending 20,000+ troops into a raging civil war despite Saddam's being hanged and the WMD never materializing.

Join the Fight
Many activist and grassroots groups are joining together to convince Dems and others to say no to Bush, including Democracy for America, CodePINK, NOW, Working Assets, MoveOn, TrueMajority , Sojourners and many others. Visit AmericaSaysNo.org, sign the petition and register for one of the protest events scheduled for locations all over the nation tomorrow.

Albuquerque's event will be held at the downtown office of Sen. Pete Domenici at 201 Third St. NW at Noon on Thursday, January 11. If you don't see an event for your area, you can also organize one of your own at the website.

To contact members of Congress directly, visit Congress.org.