House KOs call for speedy Afghanistan withdrawal

In an overwhelming show of bipartisan support for President Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan, the House on Wednesday soundly defeated a resolution setting a timetable for withdrawal.

The vote, which marked the first time the House has had a full debate on Afghanistan since Mr. Obama announced his surge last year, unleashed years of pent-up frustration from liberal Democrats and a few conservative Republicans angry over the direction the 9-year-old conflict has taken.

But the 356-65 vote against withdrawal was a dominant endorsement to give Mr. Obama the time he's asked for to stabilize the troubled nation.

"Have we forgotten? Have we forgotten what happened to America on 9/11?" demanded Rep. Ike Skelton, Missouri Democrat and chairman of the Armed Services Committee. "Have we forgotten who did it? Have we forgotten those who protected and gave them a safe haven?"

But Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, who wrote the failed measure, said corrupt Afghan leaders don't deserve the blood American troops are shedding, and that the money the U.S. is spending should instead be used at home.

"Should the United States people continue to bear the burdens of this war?" he said.

Late last year, Mr. Obama announced he was sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, but also announced he will begin withdrawing them in July 2011. Following on the success of President George W. Bush's surge in Iraq, Mr. Obama said the goal was to give Afghanistan the breathing space to step up its own security forces and clean up government.

Mr. Kucinich's resolution demanded a pullout within 30 days or, if Mr. Obama deemed that unsafe, would have set a hard deadline of the end of this year.

Democratic leaders allowed the resolution to come to the floor unfettered by parliamentary tactics as a signal of the importance they placed on the debate in an election year.

Just five Republicans and 60 Democrats voted for the withdrawal. They said they appreciated the forum, which gave them a chance to air grievances over Mr. Obama's plans, over Mr. Bush's original decision to go to war, and even over the American press coverage of the debate, which Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, Rhode Island Democrat, called "despicable" in its lack of depth.

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