And for those in Congress who are terrified of being accused of abandoning the troops, it’s time to stand up and reframe the debate. As a group of military families and veterans wrote in an open letter to Congress, “Voting more funds for this war would be abandoning our troops. It would leave them with the possibility of joining the over 3,160 who have died, or the tens of thousands who have been wounded, physically, psychologically, or both.” The best way to support the troops is get them out of harm’s way and back into the arms of their loved ones. And with the present scandal about the dreadful treatment of returning soldiers at our nation’s Veterans Hospitals, Congress would do well to argue that the money for war would be better spent on taking care of the soldiers we have abandoned here at home.
Congress should take heart at the fact that since the 2006 election, polls show an even greater number of Americans oppose the war and want U.S. troops withdrawn. A Washington Post/ABC News poll released February 27 showed that 66 percent of those surveyed oppose the president's planned troop buildup and a majority—53 percent—say a deadline should be set to withdraw U.S. forces. And let’s not forget that back in February 2006, a Zogby poll found that 72% of the troops themselves thought they should be out of Iraq by the end of 2006.
Our elected officials should listen to their impassioned constituents who are calling, visiting and sitting in at their offices all over the country, saying that if the newly elected Congress betrays the voters by funding Bush’s war, it will no longer be Bush’s war but their war as well. In a variation of Colin Powell’s “Pottery barn rule,” constituents are saying: “If you fund it, you own it.”
Congress might not have enough votes to block the funding this time around, but the only way to build momentum to stop the next funding request is to heed the prophetic message of Dr. Martin Luther King now: Stop seeking a position that is safe, politic or expedient. Have the moral courage to do what’s right and within your Constitutional mandate. Use your power of the purse to stop funding this dreadful war.
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