Wow. This is a stunner. After months of trying to micro-manage the war in Iraq, Democrats are trying to 'micro-fund' it:
A two-month spending bill to cover the costs of the Iraq war is "very likely" after President Bush vetoes the current Iraq spending bill, House Defense Appropriations Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) said Friday...
House Defense appropriator Jim Moran (D-Va.) said a two-month bill is intended to keep troops funded without giving the president too much latitude.
"Six months is probably too long," Moran said. "One month - it takes longer than that to pass the thing."
Moran said the legislation could not be treated like a continuing resolution, keeping funding at existing levels. The amount of money flowing to the military has to increase, he said, to cover additional spending on "re-tooling" the National Guard and military healthcare.
Moran nodded with an expression of resignation when asked if the two-month bill, as currently envisioned, would fund the ongoing "surge" of U.S. combat troops in Iraq...
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) a founding member of the House Out of Iraq Caucus, said she expects there will be even more pressure to withdraw troops in two months if events in Iraq continue on their current violent course.
"In two months it might be really clear how bad it is," Woolsey said.
I've spoken before (eg, here and here) about the temptation for Congressional Democrats to completely abandon efforts to fund the Iraq and Afghanistan missions for the rest of the year. War opponents argued that if they could not completely cut off funds, they should at most pay for the war in installments, enabling them to continue browbeating the president for an early withdrawal. The micro-funding strategy also creates multiple opportunities to cut off funds for the troops--as the Out of Iraq caucus apparently intends.
Of course, it significantly complicates the management of defense operations and the war, but that doesn't appear to be a primary concern. In fact, it's probably a side-benefit. It also sends the signal to the insurgency in Iraq that Congress is loathe to give our troops in Iraq the funds they need--even when there's tremendous political pressure on them.
This can't be considered anything less than a slap in the face of our troops, and a clear signal to the insurgency in Iraq that Congress is just about ready to throw in the towel. Combined with Senator Reid's statement yesterday, our enemies in the war on terror ought to have a great weekend.
