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House War Bill Would Require Troop Withdrawal

November 14, 2007 10:35 PM

ABC News' Dean Norland Reports: The House passed a bill Wednesday night to fund the war for approximately four months at cost of $50 billion, but includes a measure to start bringing U.S. troops home.

If the short-term funding bill becomes law it would require the start of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 30 days of enactment, with a non-binding goal of having all combat troops out of the country by Dec. 15, 2008.

The vote was 218 yeas, 203 nays, 1  present.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was in the chair when the vote was announced at 10:01 pm. The bill now goes to the Senate, where its prospects for passage are not bright. Also, the White House has threatened a veto.

November 14, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (49) | TrackBack (0)

Rice Urges Diplomats to Serve in Iraq

November 02, 2007 6:36 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: In an apparent response to criticism from its own diplomats the State Department has launched an internal website to "assist employees considering service in Iraq, assigned to Iraq, or already serving in Iraq - and their family members" according to an email to employees.

The website's launch comes after diplomats lambasted the Director General of the Foreign Service Ambassador Harry Thomas during a closed townhall meeting on Wednesday about the department's recent decision to order diplomats to serve in Iraq after 48 positions remained unfilled through the usual voluntary process.

Last Friday the department announced it would identify 200 "prime candidates" to fill the positions in hopes that enough will volunteer. If not, some will be forced to go or face the possibility of losing their jobs.

The website will also provide information for those who have been identified as prime candidates, the internal release said.

One senior diplomat stood up at the townhall meeting to tell Thomas that such orders to serve in a war zone were "a potential death sentence."

Another diplomat said during the meeting that she had returned from service in Iraq and was immediately diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, but added that she never received the care she requested from the department.

Rice, in response to the outrage, today wrote a letter to U.S. diplomats worldwide explaining the decision to order so-called "directed assignments."

Calling Iraq "the most essential foreign policy and national security priority for our nation" Rice urged diplomats to serve there.

After being criticized at the meeting for not caring about her employees, Rice wrote in the letter "I commit to each of you that all those who serve in Iraq, and their families, will receive the department's full support before, during, and after their assignment. I know you will continue to make the nation proud as you serve worldwide, dedicated to the mission, and ready to overcome any challenge."

November 2, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

General Betrayus and the Phony Soldiers

October 01, 2007 2:54 PM

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: Democrats must think they really lost some ground when Republicans targeted the Moveon.org General Betraus ad several weeks ago. LINK

That  politico-rhetorical campaign by Republicans culminated on Thursday, September 20th with passage in the Senate of a political, non-binding resolution denouncing Moveon.org. The amendment, offered by Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, said the Senate should "strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces." LINK

Democrats, in a  campaign of their own, are now asking for a little parity from Republicans. Target: Rush Limbaugh.

Limbaugh was in one of his "typical rants" -- those are the words of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a speech on the Senate floor this morning -- when Limbaugh, on his radio show, called American troops critical of the Iraq war "phony soldiers."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, incensed that a soldier's patriotism would be questioned for questioning the war, has written a letter to Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays demanding an apology from Limbaugh. Reid is going to leave the letter on the Senate floor all day said just after 2pm on the Senate floor and wants Republicans to sign it.

"Our troops are fighting and dying to bring to others the freedoms that many take for granted," reads the letter to Mays. "It is unconscionable that Mr. Limbaugh would criticize them for exercising the fundamentally American right to free speech.  Mr. Limbaugh has made outrageous remarks before, but this affront to our soldiers is beyond the pale."

In his floor speech, Reid invoked the anti-Moveon.org vote which was supported by many Democrats fearful of choosing the liberal group over the troops.

"If we take the Republican side at their word that last week's vote on another controversial statement related to the war was truly about patriotism, not politics, then I have no doubt that they will stand with us against Limbaugh’s comments with equal fervor," Reid said.

"I am confident. No, I'm not confident. I am hopeful," Reid said, "we will see Republicans join with us in overwhelming numbers.  Anything less would be a double standard that has no place in the United States Senate."

October 1, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)

White House Seeks $42.3 Billion More for War

September 26, 2007 11:22 AM

ABC News' Jonathan Karl and Tom Shine Report: ABC News has learned that the Bush Administration plans to ask Congress for another $42.3 billion to fund the global war on terror.  That brings the total request for 2008 war funding to nearly $190 billion, making 2008 the costliest year, by far, for war funding.

Defense Secretary Gates will present the funding request to the Senate Appropriations Committee this afternoon.  According to a copy of Mr. Gates' testimony obtained by ABC News, the additional funding request includes:

     - $11 billion to buy more MRAPs (this makes a total of more than 16.3 to be spent on MRAPs in 2008
     - $6 billion for Army and Marine combat units operating in Iraq
     - $6 billion for training and equipment of U.S. ground troops "to accelerate deployment readiness of Army units"
     - $9 billion to repair and replace equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan
     - $1 billion to "improve U.S. facilities in the region and consolidate our bases in Iraq."
     - $1 billion to train Iraqi security forces, bringing the total to $5.7 billion for training Iraqi security forces in '08 alone.

"I urge the Congress to approve the complete Global War on Terror request as quickly as possible and without excessive and counterproductive restrictions," Gates will say, according to his written testimony.

The administration has already requested $147 billion for funding the global war on terror.  The additional request of $42.3 billion brings the total to $189.3 billion for fiscal year 2008.

Here's a rundown of how much has been spent on the war on terror since the invasion of Iraq:

    -2007 -- $173 billion
    -2006 -- $121.5 billion
    -2005 -- $107.6 billion
    -2004 -- $94.1 billion
    -2003 -- $81.1 billion

September 26, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (113) | TrackBack (0)

Gates' 'Hope': 100,000 Troops in Iraq in Jan '09

September 14, 2007 6:16 PM

ABC News' Jonathan Karl Reports: Even in a best-case scenario, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says there would still be about 100,000 U.S. troops in Iraq when the next president of the United States is sworn in on January 20, 2009.

"My hope is that when he does his assessment in March, that General [David] Petraeus will be able to say that he thinks that the pace of drawdowns can continue at the same rate in the second half of the year, as in the first half of the year," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon Friday. "That's my hope."

Asked if that means "about 100,000 for the next president" Gates replied, "That would be the math."
   
The plan announced by the president would reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by about 20,000 to 30,000, leaving more than 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by July 2008. 

Drawing down another 30,000 for the following six months would leave 100,000 troops there by January 2009, when the next president is sworn in.

Gates made it clear that further drawdowns are not guaranteed, however, and it is possible there could be considerably more than 100,000 troops in Iraq by January 2009.

"One of the sad aspects of war is there is no script," Gates said.  "That history hasn't been written yet. And the enemy has a vote. I can tell you what my hope is."

Democrats quickly seized on Secretary Gates' comments to call for a quicker drawdown.

"It's more evidence that it's the president plan to leave this mess for the next president to deal with," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "If that's a strategy, it's beyond me."

"It is well within both the president's authority and ability to redeploy more of our forces and at a faster pace than he announced last night, which means that a year from now we would simply be back to the same troop level we were at a year ago," said Philippe Reines, spokesman for Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

September 14, 2007 in Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (25) | TrackBack (0)