Rep. Johnson of Texas Needs to Answer
February 19, 2007 – 10:45 amI was reading a post over at Digby’s blog titled “Do As I Say, Not As I Said”, and I couldn’t help reproducing an abbreviated version of a couple of quotes from Representative Sam Johnson from my home state of Texas. You should definitely go read Digby’s post for a fuller account if you are so inclined.
Rep. Johnson, a Republican, needs to answer for a significant discrepancy in his thoughts about our troops in Iraq in 2006 versus our troops in Bosnia in 1995. Here is Rep. Johnson discussing Democratic plans to bring our troops home from Iraq:
“I’m positive that Democrats will attempt to cut funding as soon as the spending bills come up this spring…and fear what that means for our troops on the ground.
[…]
“Our troops – and their families – want, need and deserve the full support of the country – and the Congress. Moms and dads watching the news need to know that the Congress will not leave their sons and daughters in harm’s way without support.
Now here is Rep. Johnson discussing how our Congress should take care of our troops in Bosnia back in 1995 (emphasis mine):
I wholeheartedly support withholding funds from President Clinton’s Bosnia mission. Although it is a drastic step and ties the President’s hands, I do not feel like we have any other choice. The President has tied our hands, gone against the wishes of the American people, and this is the last best way I know how to show my respect for our American servicemen and women. They are helpless, following orders. But we, we
are in a position to stop this terrible mistake before it happens.
But what about the moms and dads watching television back in 1995, Rep. Johnson? Didn’t they need to know that we weren’t going to leave their sons and daughters in harm’s way without support? Didn’t they deserve the full support of the Congress?
It’s important to know that this abrupt change in rhetoric isn’t unique to Rep. Johnson. Many Republicans that are bemoaning the imagined lack of support for our troops by current Congressional Democrats were singing a much different tune when President Clinton made troop movements in the 1990s. Surely the Republicans aren’t playing politics with our troops and their safety.
2 Responses to “Rep. Johnson of Texas Needs to Answer”
It’s been pointed out in several places that cutting funding for troops doesn’t necessarily mean ripping the body armor off them and stopping their MRE shipments tomorrow. Assuming Congress can muster a veto-proof majority, they can decide now to end war funding a year from now. That would force the Commander in Chief to begin a phased withdrawal over the next year. (Or leave soldiers in harm’s way.)
No one is debating the troops’ safety except the Republicans, who are once again trying to use fear to defend their agenda.
By Dixie on Feb 20, 2007 at 10:13 am
That’s exactly right. Not a single member of Congress, no matter how great their dissatisfaction with the war, is advocating a plan where we can’t afford to give troops weapons or fuel our helicopters.
Like you mention, it would be a phased operation, where military commanders know exactly how many people they need to send back over the next X months, and appropriate arrangements are then made. But the substance of these proposals are of little to no interest to Republicans in Congress. It’s all about word games and grandstanding.
By jjk on Feb 20, 2007 at 12:47 pm