WASHINGTON— The House overwhelmingly rejected a resolution calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan by year's end as Republicans and Democrats joined together in embracing President Barack Obama's long-term war strategy.
The vote was 321-93 with one member voting present, a show of bipartisanship on national security and a referendum on the president's policy after last year's troop buildup. [See photos of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.]
"We need to stand with our commander in chief. We need to stand with our troops and complete this task," Republican Rep. Chris Gibson of New York, a freshman who did four Army combat tours in Iraq, said during the forceful debate.
A resolution expresses lawmakers' opinions but has no legal effect. Although this one had failed in the past and failed again, the debate provided a measure of Congress' impatience with the war in the face of increasing budget pressure and growing public opposition reflected in recent opinion polls.
A similar resolution failed in the House last March on a vote of 356-65, and both sides were closely watching Thursday's vote to gauge the gains among the resolution's proponents.
During Thursday's debate, lawmakers had warned that passage of the resolution would have dire consequences in the fight against terrorism and put the nation at risk of another 9/11 strike.
[See which members of Congress get the most money from the defense industry.]
"Withdrawing before completing our mission would reinforce extremist propaganda that Americans are weak and unreliable allies and facilitate extremist recruiting and future attacks," said Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
This week, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan echoed that warning, saying passage of the resolution would be hailed by the Taliban and al-Qaida as a victory.
"We do not want the Taliban and their al-Qaida allies back in charge of Afghanistan or any significant part of Afghanistan from which they could plot attacks against us as they are still trying to do in the parts of Pakistan they're in," said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
Top leaders in the House were determined to keep the resolution's proponents from making inroads with the freshman class of 87 Republicans and nine Democrats, pressing them to vote against the measure.
Army Gen. David Petraeus told Congress that the war is turning around and the United States is on track to begin drawing down troops in July. The timeline calls for ending U.S. and NATO combat operations by the end of 2014. [Read more about national security, terrorism, and the military.]
The resolution and its chief sponsors — Reps. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, Walter Jones, R-N.C., and Ron Paul, R-Texas — argue that's not fast enough. The resolution called for Obama to withdraw U.S. forces no later than Dec. 31, 2011.
Kucinich, at the opening of the debate, said the country is spending $100 billion a year on a war that could last another 10 years. "Are we willing to spend another trillion dollars on a war that doesn't have any exit plan?" he asked.
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Tim B of WA 6:32PM March 17, 2011
Tim B of WA 6:26PM March 17, 2011