said McCain."
From Yahoo News:
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In 1993, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) led an effort to cut off funds immediately for military operations in Somalia after a firefight in Mogadishu killed 18 U.S. troops. The former prisoner of war in Vietnam brought a hush to the chamber floor when he asked what would happen if Congress failed to act and more Americans died.
"On whose hands rest the blood of American troops? Ask yourself this question," said McCain, R-Ariz.
Congress ultimately agreed to back President Clinton's request to give him until March 1994 to get troops out, with funding denied after that date. In 1999, Congress passed similar legislation prohibiting money spent to keep U.S. troops in Haiti after May 2000.
"When Americans are imperiled, ultimately the president has to bear that responsibility," Clinton said at the time of the Somalia vote.
Now, McCain — a GOP presidential contender for 2008 — says setting a date certain on the war in Iraq is like sending a "memo to our enemies to let them know when they can operate again."
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William Howell, a war powers expert and associate professor at the University of Chicago, said whatever the historical significance of last week's vote, Democrats have gained considerable traction in opposing a wartime president because of the war's unpopularity.
"It establishes this marker so that not now, but six months from now ... Democrats can have the momentum to (override) a presidential veto" if the war is still going badly, Howell said. "Just because it doesn't pass doesn't mean it's not of consequence."
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070501/ap_on_go_co/congress_wars;_ylt=AteHRqKUIBoELU4FSOoFBUDMWM0F