Minimum leave fraud thwarted by GOP

Washington Times:

Senate Republicans yesterday thwarted Democrats" effort to set a minimum length for rest time for troops between deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan — saying it was another attempt to "micromanage" military operations.

The measure — the first of several votes expected in the coming days to challenge President Bush's Iraq war plan — was defeated in a procedural vote, garnering only a 56-41 majority, four votes shy of the needed 60.

"This is another example of how Congress over the years has periodically decided that we're going to micromanage a situation for our military," said Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican. "We cannot and should not do that."

The amendment to the Senate defense authorization bill, authored by Sen. James H. Webb Jr., Virginia Democrat, attracted support from seven Republicans, 48 Democrats and one independent for the measure. No Democrats voted no.

"I regret that we did not reach the 60-vote margin that would have caused this amendment to prevail," Mr. Webb said. "At the same time, we got a strong majority of the United States Senate to agree that this issue is vital to the well-being of the people who are being sent into harm's way."

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This was a fraudulent attempt by Democrats to cut and run through stealth rather than in an honest fashion. Any Republicans who voted for this fraud should be ashamed. This is typical of the bad faith in which Democrats treat national security issues and the military in particular. It was a deliberate attempt to hamstring the ability of the military to fight the war. It was dishonest and deserved defeat in even greater numbers.