They Voted Against Victory
Today, the House of Representatives voted to pass resolution 861. A resolution declaring support for victory in the war on terror and the war in Iraq. The vote was 256 in favor, 153 against.
RESOLUTION
Declaring that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.
Whereas the United States and its allies are engaged in a Global War on Terror, a long and demanding struggle against an adversary that is driven by hatred of American values and that is committed to imposing, by the use of terror, its repressive ideology throughout the world;
Whereas for the past two decades, terrorists have used violence in a futile attempt to intimidate the United States;
Whereas it is essential to the security of the American people and to world security that the United States, together with its allies, take the battle to the terrorists and to those who provide them assistance;
Whereas the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and other terrorists failed to stop free elections in Afghanistan and the first popularly-elected President in that nation’s history has taken office;
Whereas the continued determination of Afghanistan, the United States, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will be required to sustain a sovereign, free, and secure Afghanistan;
Whereas the steadfast resolve of the United States and its partners since September 11, 2001, helped persuade the government of Libya to surrender its weapons of mass destruction;
Whereas by early 2003 Saddam Hussein and his criminal, Ba’athist regime in Iraq, which had supported terrorists, constituted a threat against global peace and security and was in violation of mandatory United Nations Security Council Resolutions;
Whereas the mission of the United States and its Coalition partners, having removed Saddam Hussein and his regime from power, is to establish a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq at peace with its neighbors;
Whereas the terrorists have declared Iraq to be the central front in their war against all who oppose their ideology;
Whereas the Iraqi people, with the help of the United States and other Coalition partners, have formed a permanent, representative government under a newly ratified constitution;
Whereas the terrorists seek to destroy the new unity government because it threatens the terrorists’ aspirations for Iraq and the broader Middle East;
Whereas United States Armed Forces, in coordination with Iraqi security forces and Coalition and other friendly forces, have scored impressive victories in Iraq including finding and killing the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi;
Whereas Iraqi security forces are, over time, taking over from United States and Coalition forces a growing proportion of independent operations and increasingly lead the fight to secure Iraq;
Whereas the United States and Coalition servicemembers and civilians and the members of the Iraqi security forces and those assisting them who have made the ultimate sacrifice or been wounded in Iraq have done so nobly, in the cause of freedom; and
Whereas the United States and its Coalition partners will continue to support Iraq as part of the Global War on Terror: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives–
(1) honors all those Americans who have taken an active part in the Global War on Terror, whether as first responders protecting the homeland, as servicemembers overseas, as diplomats and intelligence officers, or in other roles;
(2) honors the sacrifices of the United States Armed Forces and of partners in the Coalition, and of the Iraqis and Afghans who fight alongside them, especially those who have fallen or been wounded in the struggle, and honors as well the sacrifices of their families and of others who risk their lives to help defend freedom;
(3) declares that it is not in the national security interest of the United States to set an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment of United States Armed Forces from Iraq;
(4) declares that the United States is committed to the completion of the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq;
(5) congratulates Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and the Iraqi people on the courage they have shown by participating, in increasing millions, in the elections of 2005 and on the formation of the first government under Iraq’s new constitution;
(6) calls upon the nations of the world to promote global peace and security by standing with the United States and other Coalition partners to support the efforts of the Iraqi and Afghan people to live in freedom; and
(7) declares that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the noble struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.
I’ll update this post later with the full names of congressman who voted against victory in the GWOT and in Iraq, but for now you can view the raw roll call results from the House clerk’s office.
Here is the complete list of congressman who voted against victory in the GWOT and in Iraq. Write your congressman a letter and ask them one or more of the following questions:
- How they [the Democratic party] plan to protect American citizens around the World when the Islamo-fascists, emboldened by our defeat in Iraq, take the initiative and step up their efforts?
- How they plan to protect American families when the terrorists in Iraq follow our troops home?
- How they plan to deal with a depressed economy that will surely follow a defeat in Iraq?
- If the going gets tougher in Afghanistan, and by all indications it will, how quickly will they withdraw troops from that country?
- How they plan to defend the country against a nuclear armed Iran once the Iranians realize America doesn’t keep its promises?
- How they plan to deal with a re-armed Libya and the extremist takeover of the government in Pakistan?
- How they’ll sleep at night knowing that Iraqi civilians are being slaughtered by anti–government Sunni Arabs in retaliation for cooperating with the coalition, as had happened to the Shia after the first Gulf war?
Because all or most of the above scenarios are likely to occur if America cuts and runs from Iraq too early.
And now for the complete list…
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Neil Abercrombie Gary L. Ackerman Thomas H. Allen Robert E. Andrews Joe Baca Brian Baird Tammy Baldwin Xavier Becerra Shelley Berkley Earl Blumenauer Jeb Bradley Sherrod Brown Corrine Brown G. K. Butterfield Lois Capps Benjamin L. Cardin Michael E. Capuano Russ Carnahan Julia Carson Wm. Lacy Clay James E. Clyburn John Conyers Jr. Joseph Crowley Elijah E. Cummings Artur Davis Susan A. Davis Jim Davis Danny K. Davis Peter A. DeFazio Diana DeGette William D. Delahunt Rosa L. DeLauro Norman D. Dicks Lloyd Doggett Michael F. Doyle John J. Duncan Jr. Rahm Emanuel Eliot L. Engel Anna G. Eshoo Sam Farr Chaka Fattah Bob Filner Harold E. Ford Jr. Barney Frank Charles A. Gonzalez Al Green Raúl M. Grijalva Jane Harman Alcee L. Hastings Maurice D. Hinchey Rubén Hinojosa Rush D. Holt Michael M. Honda Darlene Hooley Steny H. Hoyer Jay Inslee Steve Israel Jesse L. Jackson Jr. Sheila Jackson-Lee William J. Jefferson Eddie Bernice Johnson Stephanie Tubbs Jones Paul E. Kanjorski Marcy Kaptur Patrick J. Kennedy Dale E. Kildee Dennis J. Kucinich James R. Langevin Tom Lantos John B. Larson James A. Leach Barbara Lee Sander M. Levin John Lewis Zoe Lofgren Nita M. Lowey Carolyn B. Maloney |
Edward J. Markey Doris O. Matsui Betty McCollum Jim McDermott James P. McGovern Cynthia McKinney Michael R. McNulty Martin T. Meehan Kendrick B. Meek Gregory W. Meeks Michael H. Michaud Juanita Millender-McDonald George Miller Alan B. Mollohan Gwen Moore James P. Moran John P. Murtha Jerrold Nadler Grace F. Napolitano Richard E. Neal James L. Oberstar David R. Obey John W. Olver Solomon P. Ortiz Major R. Owens Frank Pallone Jr. Bill Pascrell Jr. Ed Pastor Ron Paul Donald M. Payne Nancy Pelosi Earl Pomeroy David E. Price Nick J. Rahall II Charles B. Rangel Silvestre Reyes Steven R. Rothman Lucille Roybal-Allard C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger Bobby L. Rush Tim Ryan Martin Olav Sabo Linda T. Sánchez Loretta Sanchez Bernard Sanders Janice D. Schakowsky Adam B. Schiff Allyson Y. Schwartz David Scott Robert C. Scott José E. Serrano Ike Skelton Louise McIntosh Slaughter Hilda L. Solis Fortney Pete Stark Ted Strickland Bart Stupak John S. Tanner Ellen O. Tauscher Mike Thompson John F. Tierney Edolphus Towns Mark Udall Tom Udall Chris Van Hollen Nydia M. Velázquez Peter J. Visclosky Debbie Wasserman Schultz Maxine Waters Diane E. Watson Melvin L. Watt Anthony D. Weiner Robert Wexler Lynn C. Woolsey David Wu Albert Russell Wynn |