Hamstringing Our Generals

We should be clear about exactly what this proposed legislation is: This is a spending bill that hamstrings our generals and cuts off the ability of our troops to accomplish their mission.

This supplemental is the first step by the Democrats to abruptly end our efforts in Iraq, without giving critical thought to the consequences of failure there.

This bill offers arbitrary deadlines, and in doing so, it endangers the mission of our troops on the battlefield and gives the insurgency and terrorists a date certain to simply wait us out.

Further, it seeks to micromanage the war by the Congress.

We must not set arbitrary deadlines and micromanage the war from the House floor.

Just this weekend, Defense Secretary Gates said that the Iraqi government had met their initial commitments and that Iraqi troops are holding up their end of the bargain and showing up to fight.

I’ve said to people back home that if the Iraqis are willing to stand up and fight for their country, we will stand with them to help them create a stable Iraq.

Our military leaders and diplomats have said the same thing and when America makes a promise, we must keep it.
What Iraq needs, what our troops need – and what the free world needs is a resolute commitment to this vitally important cause.

A stable Iraq is not just important, it’s an absolute necessity.

Fighting and prevailing over an enemy of this nature takes patience and an iron will.

We must give General Petraeus’ plan time to work.

What the nation and our troops deserve is our best thinking and our staunchest support.

This supplemental funding bill does exactly the opposite.