The Military Should Make Recommendations, Not Congress

All week long, the House has been debating a nonbinding resolution which disapproves of the President’s decision to send additional troops to Iraq. As I said on the House floor yesterday, I am personally skeptical that the increase of 20,000 additional troops will make the difference and stabilize Baghdad and Iraq, however, the question for me is to whom we should listen regarding operational decisions in Iraq. Should we listen to the recommendations of the US military or to the politicians in Washington?

As an Air Force veteran, I think we should accept the recommendations of our military leaders such as the commander of our forces in Baghdad who said that the additional troops will provide us with more time to work with the Iraqis to defeat the ad Qaeda threat.

For a full week, the House has debated a nonbinding resolution which will do nothing to help our troops or positively change the course of action in Iraq. At a time when some in Washington are talking about cutting off funding for our troops, I think we should have used this opportunity to commit full funding for our armed forces as long as they are in the field. Instead, we are voting on a resolution which rejects the only plan which has been suggested by our military leaders for success in Iraq. We are also beginning this Congress down a path which ends with cutting off funding for our troops and abandoning our foreign policy because of failed Congressional fortitude. I am opposed to this resolution and Congress’ micromanaging of the War on Terror.