January 9, 2007

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suggested over the weekend that they might not vote to pay for additional troops in Iraq. President Bush is expected to announce plans for a surge in troops in a speech to the nation tomorrow night. According to the New York Times, the president will also establish certain benchmarks for the Iraqi government that will allow more Iraqi control so American troops might begin to withdraw.

The threat not to pay for more troops is Vietnam-lite. Thirty-two years ago, a democratic Congress voted to cutoff all funds for the Vietnam war.

The comments by Pelosi and Reid will delight our enemies who have always believed America doesn’t have the stomach for a long war. In the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown, who is expected to replace Prime Minister Tony Blair later this year, says he wants to redefine Britain’s close relationship with the U.S., especially as it pertains to Iraq. Brown says he plans to withdraw thousands of British troops as soon as he can. All of this can only encourage the Islamofascists.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.