Reply #69: not sure what your point is ...

[welshTerrier2]

it is the sole domain of Congress to allocate funds for war ... the Constitution gives Congress the ability to fund wars and cut-off funding for wars ...

Congress can say that no funds are to be spent after any date they choose ... that date would be a deadline date ... providing such a date for the cut-off of funds would force the President to operate according to the will of the Congress ... it would force the President to make a plan that is controlled, at its end point, by a "date certain" ...

no ultimate outcome is guaranteed ... the President and the military might or might not achieve whatever stated objectives they have provided by the "date certain" ... they would, however, have been put on notice that the Congress will not allow an open-ended conflict ...

it is certainly valid to argue, as too many Democrats have argued, that the situation in Iraq should dictate events rather than a cut-off date ... I disagree ... if you want me to pick a date, my date certain is Sunday, March 5, 2006.

my argument with those supporting "benchmarks" without supporting a cut-off date is that I don't believe anything positive is being achieved in Iraq ... we'll be talking about benchmarks 10 years from now while the US continues to exploit Iraqi oil through PSA's and pressure from the World Bank and continues to destabilize Iraq's internal politics for their own greedy objectives ... if I had an ounce of faith in the goals of those who control the levers of power in the US, I might consider, given demonstrable progress, a phased withdrawal based on benchmarks ...

because I do not trust those in power or the objectives of the US government, nor do I see any progress in Iraq after 3 years of war and occupation, I see no viable path beyond immediate withdrawal ... for those who like to toss around "purist" labels, yes, I would be willing to compromise to some degree ... but the compromise can never result in an open-ended war ... absent a "date certain" or clear proof of progress in Iraq, compromise on either immediate withdrawal or a "near-term" date certain is not possible ...