Democrats Compromise National Security with New Surrender Date

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After stalling for weeks on an emergency war spending bill, House and Senate Democrats moved quickly yesterday to agree on a new surrender date, undercutting General Petraeus before he even has a chance to provide lawmakers with an updated progress report. Democrats would force American troops to begin retreating from Iraq by as early as July 1, 2007 - a full three months before the arbitrary deadline set by Democrats in the original House bill, which President Bush promised to veto.

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), one of the original authors of the Democrats' slow-bleed strategy of tying troop funding to a surrender date, defended micromanaging the war effort on CNN by saying, "That's our job."

The new bill represents the height of Democrats' arrogance and intransigence, taking the arbitrary strings and conditions that made the original bill so egregious and making them worse. Democrats didn't even bother "compromising" with each other - they were perfectly willing to settle on a bill that compromises our troops in harm's way, our generals on the ground, and America's national security.

DEMOCRATS' BILL COMPROMISES OUR TROOPS

Democratic leaders willfully ignored the President's clear and unambiguous promise to veto legislation that ties troop funding to pork-barrel spending and arbitrary deadlines. By pushing a reckless bill they know will be vetoed, Democrats are forcing American troops - who are completing their missions with honor and courage - to wait even longer for critical funding while the House and Senate go back to the drawing board.

And by forcing the Commander-in-Chief to wait 15 days each time he needs to deploy additional troops, Democrats would leave our troops in harm's way stranded, without reinforcements. American troops could be under heavy fire but our generals can't send reinforcements because Democrats think Washington politicians need a 15-day notice.

DEMOCRATS' BILL COMPROMISES OUR GENERALS ON THE GROUND

Generals should be making decisions on the ground - not politicians in Washington . By trying to run the war from Washington , Democrats have specifically undercut General Petraeus - who was unanimously confirmed by both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate. After Democrats repeatedly refused to meet with him, General Petraeus is now scheduled to give a candid presentation to lawmakers tomorrow about the progress and challenges in Iraq . And even though he too voted to confirm the general, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says the war is "lost" and told CNN yesterday he doesn't believe General Petraeus that there is progress in Iraq : "No. I don't believe him. Because it's not happening. All you have to do is look at facts."

Interestingly, as Democrats push arbitrary deadlines, they themselves couldn't even meet a very real deadline - April 15, 2007 - the "date certain" by which our generals and soldiers needed critical funding, the delay of which is having "an adverse effect on the readiness of the Army."

DEMOCRATS' BILL COMPROMISES AMERICA 'S NATIONAL SECURITY

Democrats are making battlefield decisions with absolutely no acknowledgment of the security situation in Iraq. In fact, their bill mandates a more rapid withdrawal of American forces - the very thing that "would lead to a significant increase in the scale and scope of sectarian conflict in Iraq ," and would abandon parts of Iraq to al Qaeda for them "to plan increased attacks in and outside of Iraq ."

By their words and deeds, Congressional Democrats have demonstrated a calculated disregard for America's national security and the well-being of our troops in harm's way. It is past time for Democrats to do the right thing and pass a clean troop funding bill that gives our soldiers the resources they need to succeed in the Global War on Terror.