Democrats won’t cut Iraq war funding

The resolution and the three days of debate that preceded its passage are a further demonstration that the Democratic Party shares the imperialist goals of the Bush administration in Iraq, and that its criticisms are entirely on the level of tactics. In a literal sense, the resolution is not an antiwar measure at all, but merely a statement of disagreement with the method chosen by the White House to continue and escalate the war.

The resolution devotes half its 97 words to declaring support for US troops currently occupying Iraq, while stating that Congress “disapproves” of Bush’s decision to escalate the war. The resolution neither condemns the ongoing slaughter in Iraq, nor the initial decision to invade and conquer the country. If implemented—rather than contemptuously ignored by the White House—it would leave American policy in Iraq exactly where it was on January 9, the day before Bush ordered the “surge” of additional troops.

The three days of speeches on the House floor included remarks by more than three quarters of the 434 representatives. These comments give a glimpse of the relatively narrow range of opinion within the two big business parties in relation to the Iraq war.

The Republican speech-making was a mixture of McCarthy-style terror-baiting (those voting for the non-binding resolution were supposedly guilty of encouraging Al Qaeda and demoralizing US troops), and taunts against the Democrats for their unwillingness to put forward legislation that would actually compel an end to the war by cutting off funding. Adam Putnam, chairman of the House Republican Conference, noted that the resolution “does nothing to help win the war” and “doesn’t do anything to help stop it, either.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/iraq-f17.shtml