Iraq pullout rejected by rancorous vote in Congress

Republicans and Democrats shouted, howled and slung insults on the House floor on Nov. 18 as a debate over whether to withdraw US troops from Iraq descended into a fury over President Bush's handling of the war and a leading Democrat's call to bring the troops home. The venomous exchanges were initially provoked by the demand of John Murtha, the vastly experienced Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman and decorated Vietnam veteran, for an immediate withdrawal of the 160,000 US soldiers in Iraq. In a Nov. 17 press conference, he called for an end to what he termed "a flawed policy wrapped in an illusion." "The war in Iraq is not going as advertised," he said. "It is a flawed policy wrapped in an illusion... It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region." His call, coming from one of the most hawkish Democrats in the House and an expert on military matters, created a sensation in Washington. Amid more than three hours of often nasty floor debate and boisterous political theater, Democrats accused Republicans of resorting to desperate tactics to back a failed war and Republicans warned that Murtha's measure would play into the hands of "terrorists." Denis Hastert, the Republican speaker of the House, accused Murtha of giving comfort to the enemy. "They would prefer that America surrender to the terrorists," he charged, saying they had delivered "the highest insult" to US troops on duty abroad. That comment came after a stinging attack by Vice-President Dick Cheney on war critics, whose behavior Cheney labeled "dishonest and reprehensible." For Murtha–a former marine and a long-time supporter of high Pentagon spending and a strong military–that was too much. He lashed back at "people with five deferments"–a reference to Cheney, who never served in Vietnam after having his draft deferred five times, but led the US to war in 2003. "I like guys who got five deferments and never been there, and send people to war and then don't like to hear what needs to be done," Murtha said. The battle on the House floor boiled over when Representative Jean Schmidt, an Ohio Republican, told of a phone call she had just received from a Marine colonel back home. "He asked me to send Congress a message: stay the course," Schmidt said. "He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message: that cowards cut and run, Marines never do." Democrats booed in protest and shouted Schmidt down. They caused the House to come to an abrupt standstill, and moments later, Representative Harold Ford, Democrat of Tennessee, charged across the chamber's center aisle to the Republican side screaming that Schmidt's attack had been unwarranted. "You guys are pathetic!" yelled Representative Martin Meehan, Democrat of Massachusetts. "Pathetic." Next, Murtha, who normally shuns publicity, gave an impassioned 15-minute plea for his plan to withdraw US troops, who he said had become "a catalyst for violence" in Iraq. The American people, Murtha thundered, are "thirsty for some direction; they're thirsty for a solution to this problem." Democrats then accused Republicans of pulling a political stunt by moving toward a vote on a symbolic alternative to Murtha's resolution. Democrats said the ploy distorted the meaning of Murtha's measure and left little time for meaningful debate. House Republicans had put to a vote–and rejected–their own nonbinding alternative resolution that simply said: "It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately." Democrats denounced the Republican measure as a fraud and quickly decided to vote against the resolution in an attempt to drain it of significance. The uproar followed days of mounting tension between Republicans and Democrats in which the political debate over the war sharply intensified. With Bush's popularity dropping in the polls, Democrats have sought anew to portray him as having exaggerated the threat posed by Iraq before the US invasion in 2003. Republicans have countered that Democrats were equally at fault. In recent days, Bush himself has weighed in, saying he agreed with the Vice President's language, insisting that Democrats who supported the war in the crucial Congressional vote of October 2002 but had now turned against it were "irresponsible" and hypocritical in charging that the administration had manipulated and distorted intelligence. "They looked at the same intelligence I did," the president said. Senior Democrats dispute this, saying the White House had far more material available and had been highly selective in what it permitted them to see. There is growing public sentiment (57 percent, according to one poll last week) that the Bush administration manipulated the intelligence in order to rally the country to war.