House Dem fires warning shot to Obama on war

[DEDixon 39]

Here's the clearest signal yet of a simmering Democratic challenge to President Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan, under way now.

Laying out this year's $94 billion "emergency" war spending bill yesterday, House Appropriations chairman David Obey, D-Wisc., compared Obama's plans in Afghanistan and Pakistan to former President Richard Nixon's in Vietnam, saying he was "extremely dubious" they can succeed:

"The problem is not the administration's policy or its goals. The problem is that I doubt that we have the tools there that we need to implement virtually any policy in that region," Obey said. "When I came here in 1969 I was opposed to the Vietnam war. But President Nixon pointed out that he had inherited it and deserved some time to try and make his policy work, so I decided to keep my mouth shut for a year. At the end of the year, Nixon had not moved the policy and so I began to oppose the war. I am following that same approach here."

Obey said Democrats are "giving the administration everything that they want and then some to maximize their chance of succeeding," but at the end of this year, he wants "an honest, tough-minded evaluation of the chances of success."

Echoing fights with former President Bush over Iraq, Obey included language requiring the Obama administration to issue a progress report on five benchmarks to Congress before its next budget request in February 2010. Funding is not conditioned on meeting the benchmarks:

1. The level of political consensus and unity of purpose to confront the political and security challenges facing the region; 2. The level of government corruption and actions taken to eliminate it; 3. The performance of security forces with respect to counterinsurgency operations; 4. The performance of intelligence agencies in cooperating fully with the U.S. and not undermining the security of our troops and our objectives in the region; and 5. The ability of the government to control the territory within their borders."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi adamantly opposed Bush on Iraq but has been more accomodating of Obama in Afghanistan.

Asked recently about the war and benchmarks, she said Congress "almost unanimously voted to go into Afghanistan for particular purposes and those purposes have not been achieved, sadly, seven-and-a-half years later ... as we turned our attention, our intelligence, our forces to Iraq."

She said she supported Obama's "narrowing the focus" in Afghanistan and described benchmarks as more relevant to Pakistan, which has received billions in military aid.

"On the military side, people want to see results," Pelosi said, meaning that Pakistan should use the aid to counter its Taliban insurgency rather arm against India.

But she downplayed benchmarks for Afghanistan, saying it is "self-evident that the money we put in Afghanistan should produce some results over a period of time."

Nancy Pelosi makes me sick! She campaigned to win congress with all the Dems behind her in 2006 to end wars and she hasn't done one thing to end any war and now she is behind Obama bama.... really sickening!

LEAVE AFGHANISTAN, let the Taliban return and then hit the Taliban, if we must, where they are in Afghanistan. These people will not change! They love a fight (Afghans and the Taliban)! If they aren't fighting us, they are fighting each other, let them battle it out with each other. At this point and all points in the future, the money we are spending there is just making it way to offshore bank accounts for the well positioned over there so they can retire in France later.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Obama is about to become Tony Blair, caught between the folks that dun brung him to the dance, and the folks that will keep him from becoming another Jimmy Carter. Is this where bipartisanship comes in?

[DEDixon 39]

Red Cross confirms dozens dead (civilians) in Afghan air strikes

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090506/ts_nm/...stan_violence_9

Come on Nanci Pelosi when are you going to end wars like you said you would???????

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Obama is about to become Tony Blair, caught between the folks that dun brung him to the dance, and the folks that will keep him from becoming another Jimmy Carter. Is this where bipartisanship comes in?

Actually, they don't have to worry about him duplicating Carter since February--he managed to go a place where Carter didn't, to Ottawa with an almsbowl in hand then!