Sens. Carl Levin & Jack Reed after meeting with generals (AP)
A sharply divided House brushed aside a veto threat Wednesday and passed legislation that would order President Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq by Oct. 1.
The American Lieutenant Colonel who said Pat Tillman’s family thinks their son is “worm dirt” has something in common with with Islamic jihadists.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
John McCain was the presumptive Republican front-runner, the next in line for the nomination in a party that historically respects hierarchy.
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| Gen. David Petraeus, second from right, the top U.S. commander in Iraq walks on Capitol Hill Wednesday between meetings with members of Congress to discuss the latest on the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson) |
Democrats brushed off a White House veto threat and pleas for patience from the top U.S. commander in Iraq Wednesday and pushed toward a vote demanding that troops begin coming home this fall.
Their insistence guaranteed a historic showdown with President Bush, the first on the war since Democrats took control of Congress in January.
"Our troops are mired in a civil war with no clear enemy and no clear strategy for success," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Facing accusations that it invented war heroes from Afghanistan and Iraq for propaganda purposes, the US military admitted Wednesday it had made mistakes but said the media was also to blame.
U.S. Democratic lawmakers voted on Wednesday to subpoena Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to testify about administration justifications for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
On a party-line vote of 21-10, the House of Representatives’ Oversight and Government Reform Committee directed Rice to appear before the panel next month.
Vice President Dick Cheney accused Democratic leader Harry Reid on Tuesday of personally pursuing a defeatist strategy in Iraq to win votes at home — a charge Reid dismissed as President Bush’s “attack dog” lashing out.
Jessica Lynch walks with a limp from the extensive wounds she received in the early days of the invasion of Iraq. Pat Tillman lies in a grave – gunned down by his own comrades in Afghanistan.
Republican John McCain — senator, ex-Navy pilot and former Vietnam captive — is casting himself as the most qualified person to lead the country in wartime as he officially opens his second presidential bid and tries to succeed where he once failed.
“We face formidable challenges, but I’m not afraid of them. I’m prepared for them,” McCain says in prepared remarks.
As the confrontation over Iraq escalates between President Bush and Congress, the current wave of violence in Baghdad includes one distinctive event: A terrorist bomb in a cafeteria within the national parliament building killed a member of the legislature, and wounded many others.