Foreign Policy

It was a very close vote in the House. Not in the sense that the president’s veto was close to being overridden; rather in the sense that House Democrats are not really sure this is a winning issue for them.

Seven House Democrats abandoned their leadership and voted to sustain the president’s veto, while only two Republicans abandoned their president.

All the passion on this issue is coming from the crazy left, who dominate the primary process for House Democrats. Yet seven thought it was worth the risk of alienating their base and possibly inspiring a primary fight to vote with the president. Read more...

In the Academy Award-winning movie “Bridge on the River Kwai,” British Lt. Col. Nicholson (played by Alec Guinness) becomes so enamored of his project of building the bridge, which will help his enemy in the long run, he actually attempts to stop efforts to blow it up by his fellow allies. That is called losing the proper focus.

House Republicans may be accused of pulling a “Nicholson” if they cooperate too much in finding a solution to the war-funding crisis. House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), in particular, has proposed some steps to bridge the gap between the White House and congressional Democrats.

But unlike Nicholson, Blunt is actually serving a bigger purpose than just building a bridge. He and his House Republican colleagues may actually save the reputation of congressional Republicans and the Republican Party. Read more...

The president held to his principles and vetoed the $124 billion emergency war spending measure that would have required him to begin withdrawing troops as early as July. I had joined the chorus of criticism of this administration, but seeing the president’s defense of his action during his press conference has caused me to reconsider.

There is no question that the casualties are incalculable from this Iraq conflict and war against terror. We’re not talking only about thousands of dead bodies, but also Bush’s credibility, Dick Cheney’s abysmal approval rating, the loss of both chambers in Congress and the possibility of annihilation in the ’08 congressional and presidential elections. The president’s secretary of state, along with key aides, have suffered severe credibility loss over what is perceived as the president’s blindness and stubbornness.

It’s easy to believe that we know everything about this war based on rumor, publication of books and public declarations; realistically, however, we’ve been shown very little. That which we’ve seen is not enough to dismiss the threats against us and the true reason why this administration is unwavering with Iraq: It believes it’s a matter of existence and nonexistence, life and death. Read more...

A round of applause for Republican leaders in the House. Despite insistence by President Bush that there can be no conditions on the Iraqi government, the House GOP leaders actually want to work with the Democratic majority to find middle ground on the funding for the Iraq war.

Once the Democrats' timeline for withdrawal is vetoed and off the table, Republicans say the benchmarks for political progress that Bush opposes are up for negotiation. Spokesmen for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said benchmarks, not tied to deadlines, are on the table. Read more...

It was a lopsided result. Our latest Quick Poll! question asked whether you approved or disapproved of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's public suggestion that the Iraq war was already lost. Of people voting in the poll, 76% approved and only 26% disapproved.

What does this show? It's difficult to be sure. We were criticized perhaps justly for asking a question that conservatives and/or Republicans had little incentive to answer; while Democrats and liberals might jump to Reid's defense, Republicans and conservatives were as likely to shrug and move on. Why not, asked one visitor to the site, pose a question about whether Reid should resign — that way, both his defenders and critics would be spurred to vote.

Maybe so. Thanks for the feedback.

Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has invited George Tenet to testify before his investigations panel in May. Since George Tenet is now beginning a big-money book tour, no doubt he will agree to testify — and the fireworks could be enormous.

A word about Henry Waxman. The chairman is the standout member of the new Congress and is doing first-rate work across the board.

He is handling mulitiple investigations with professionalism and fairness, but is a bulldog who aims for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Read more...

On Christopher Lydon's radio show, several journalists recounted their recent dinner with David Halberstam shortly before his death.

Halberstam was mournful at the decline of the media in the days of Iraq, remembering how he and others warned the nation, and their readers, in the early days of the Vietnam War.

Bill Moyers reports the story well in his PBS special about the media and Iraq.

When it mattered, in 2002 and 2003, virtually the entire American major media covered Iraq the way Pravda covered the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. They jumped on what they believed was the winning side politically, maintained their insider power base, and sustained the high income that would have been threatened if they reported the truth. Read more...

The California Assembly Judiciary Committee has just reported out legislation to force the mammoth State Pension Fund to divest from 485 companies that have been named by www.disinvestterror.com as doing business with Iran, Syria, North Korea, or Sudan. This legislation, more than almost any other governmental act at the state or federal level, can be the key to frustrating Iranian nuclear ambitions and curbing their sponsorship of terror. With government revenues from the energy sector dropping from $55 billion to $44 billion between last year and this, Iran desperately needs new investment to develop its oil production (which is down a third since the Shah left). But this bill would send a clear signal that companies can't rush in to fill this gap without paying a huge price. State pension funds, in toto, in the U.S. provide these companies with almost $200 billion of investments. If California follows the lead of Missouri, where State Treasurer Sarah Steelman has disinvested already, it will encourage all states to fall in line.

I serve on the board of a charity organization called Cooperation Ireland, dedicated to promoting peace in Northern Ireland between the nationalist and loyalist communities. This organization helps fund projects focused on bringing together two communities that have rarely intermingled in the last 30 years, communities that don’t really know, like or trust each other. Building peace is hard work, and the really hard work is not done by the politicians, it is done by the people.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) spoke to our annual dinner in New York last night, and he did a great job. I am supporting Rudy Giuliani for president (he was honored by the group last year), but that doesn’t mean that I don’t respect McCain and his contributions to our nation. Read more...

Remember the reason for the surge of our troops in Iraq? That U.S. forces would secure Baghdad and other areas while hard work on the political front would lead to true Iraqi stability that would enable us to leave? Where’s the beef?

As a May 3 meeting at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt of all nations involved in Iraq approaches, several countries are warning the United States government of their concerns that four months after President Bush announced a New Way Forward in Iraq the Iraqis are not moving forward on the political benchmarks the strategy required of them. Tasked with disbanding militias, equally distributing oil wealth, holding elections and revisiting de-Baathification, the Iraqis have yet to step foot on the long road ahead. Kuwait, Russia, China and Iran are not ready to sign on to 100 percent debt relief for Iraq until they see promising political progress. Read more...