Wow. This is a stunner. After months of trying to micro-manage the war in Iraq, Democrats are trying to ‘micro-fund’ it:
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.
