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Democrats Tarred As Spinach Lovers-by Greg Strid

Democrats Tarred As Spinach Lovers

After months of finessing the English language and
posing somberly in front of news cameras, the
Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill was allowed
a brief moment in which to savor the sweet taste
of victory. A ‘triumph’ for the American people was
announced yesterday by the legislative majority
after the Senate squeaked through a $124 billion
war spending bill that has provided fuel for an
ideological debate concerning the way forward in
the increasingly chaotic land of Iraq.

The slim margin of victory (the actual vote was 51-46)
guarantees that President Bush’s threatened veto
will not be overcome. The Bush administration and
other proponents of the relatively new “Surge” battle
plan are incensed that the language in this bill calls
for a departure date for American troops if the Iraqi
government does not reach certain benchmarks that
focus on creating a truly unified government.

The Democrats believe that the “Surge” is nothing
more than an escalation of U.S. troop involvement
in and around Baghdad, and that it is just another
example of the President’s failure to grasp the dire
situation in Iraq. They consider his opposition to
taking a truly new approach that would put real
pressure on the squabbling band of inept Iraqi
politicians sheltered in the Green Zone to be the
real problem, and have tied this to his disastrous
decision to start this war in the first place.

Mr. Bush asserts that ‘arbitrary’ deadlines will
embolden our long list of enemies in Iraq, and
that the Democrats are withholding vital funds
from our troops by inserting such incendiary
language into this spending bill. He is also
claiming that it is loaded with ‘pork’ spending
for irrelevant projects, and has cited the $25
million earmarked for spinach growers in California
to disparage the opposition.

But, after peeling away the rhetoric and examining
the facts, the ‘pork’ that the president speaks of
could barely fill the stomach of one of the millions
of starving American children who are continuously
ignored by his administration. The bill actually calls
for $5 billion to be spent on health care for veterans
and active duty military personnel, and $1.3 billion
to fix the levees damaged by hurricane Katrina.
Mr. Bush is correct when he says that there is a
sizable component of the spending unrelated to the
war, but he is way off the mark when he labels it as
pork.

As for lighting the fires of motivation under America’s
enemies, he has no one but himself to blame. This
war was ultimately one of choice, and has been
handicapped by inept planning and execution from
the start. In order to win what is basically a counter-
insurgency campaign, the focus must shift to fostering
political and economic development. The longer
Mr. Bush continues to cling to the iron fist approach,
the closer Iraq will come to complete destruction.

The significance of this spending bill lies in the fact
that the real debate about how to salvage the
disaster that is Iraq has begun. The troops will
receive the resources that they need, contrary to
the President’s dire, yet unfounded assertions.
Iraq’s corrupt and coddled politicians will finally
feel a little heat on their ample bottoms, forcing
them to contemplate their fate if American troops
leave the Green Zone. It is time for all parties
involved to put the rhetoric and political posturing
aside and produce a real solution to a mess that
is threatening to destabilize the entire Middle East.

© Greg Strid 2007

© 2007 Splendid Marbles.