When Senate super-hawk John McCain (R – AZ) presented the James Foley killing as an excuse for a dramatic escalation of the Iraq War, no one should’ve been surprised. He’s been harping for an escalation ever since the war began, and harping on about attacking either ISIS or Syria or both constantly long before that.
It only seems like Congress is shifting ever more hawk-ward because of how shrill the usual hawks are growing in recent days, but the indications are that most of the people in Congress haven’t actually changed their position at all.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D – CA) is still expressing concerns about mission creep, and while there are a lot more hawkish quotes floating around out there, they’re all coming from the same people as usual.
That’s important, because less than a month ago the House passed a resolution opposing any deployment of ground troops to Iraq without a new Congressional authorization. President Obama seems to be hoping to ignore that, but as the war continues to escalate, that mostly silent war-weary majority could start speaking up again.
With all the hype the war has gotten in recent weeks, it isn’t clear where exactly such a vote would stand in the House if it were held today. That no vote is planned is telling, however, as the president presumably wouldn’t want to miss a chance to hammer through another pro-war resolution if he was really sure of it passing.
They're just trying to figure out how to do it without getting any of it on themselves – especially right before an election.
I will send them bottles of "Grow A Spine" free of charge.
All you'll get is a flood of begging emails in return.
Our economy depends on endless war.