A day after the Senate took the same position against troop withdrawal, the GOP-led House voted 256-153 to approve a nonbinding resolution that says an "arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment" of American forces is not in the national interest..."Achieving victory is our only option," declared House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, casting Democrats as defeatists who want to retreat in the face of terrorist threats. "We must not shy away.....In floor speeches, several GOP incumbents who face tough challenges from Democrats in November tried to strike a balance. They carefully criticized the resolution that their leaders had written, calling it weak and incomplete, but then reluctantly voted in favor of it. "The American people are looking to us to answer their questions on how much progress is being made, what are the Iraqis themselves willing to do to fight for their freedom and when will our men and women come home," Rep. Jim Gerlach R-Pa., said. Rep. Vic Snyder D-Ark., agreed, saying: "We should be having a debate and a discussion on how we will prevail, not just that we want to prevail."  House rejects timetable for Iraq pullout - By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press 

It's no mystery why public holds the Republican Congress in contempt these days. The so-called "debate" about the Iraq War was no debate at all, only meaningless political posturing for the upcoming election.

The Republicans, nervous about the polls showing that voters are favoring the Democrats in the upcoming 2006 election, cooked up a nonbinding resolution designed to bury the the public's growing skepticism for Bush's leadership in a flood of jingoism. The resolution declares that the occupation of Iraq is part of the global fight against terrorism, praises U.S. forces in Iraq and rejects the idea of a fixed date for withdrawing troops.

What is a surprise is that 42 Democrats crossed the line to vote for this silly resolution. The independent voters that will decide the results of the upcoming elections can easily draw a line between support for the troops and support of Bush's management of the war on terror. The rest of the Democrats can easily brush off Republican attacks on them the for not supporting the troops by justifying their "NO" vote as merely a rejection of Bush's management of the war, a sentiment that is widely held by the public.

Bush is leading the Republican Party into destruction on the issues of immigration, social security, jobs, trade and budget deficits, and above all his refusal to give up his dream of permanent US military occupation of the mideast. The Republican Congress wisely choose to break with the President on Amnesty for illegal immigrants. Congress had best listen to the public on Iraq, and not Karl Rove.