The nonbinding Iraq resolution passed the House today with a 246-to-182 vote. 17 of the House’s 201 Republicans supported the bill. This pseudo-action against Bush’s escalation of the war has gotten pseudo-praise from us liberals. Democrats have managed to “speak softly” in response to charges of disloyalty towards America and betrayal of the troops, but let’s hope they’re also carrying “a big stick” in their arsenal. So far, it seems attempts to hamper troop deployment have all been for show.

A US House of Representatives resolution condemning the plan of George Bush, the US president, to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq has been passed by a vote of 246 to 182.

Nancy Pelosi, the house speaker and a California Democrat, said: “The stakes in Iraq are too high to recycle proposals that have little prospect for success.”

Bush dismissed the rebuke, stressing that it was “non-binding”, but in the coming weeks Congress will debate the budget for the ‘war on terror’ which may directly affect Bush’s plans.

read more…