It was a mistake to vote No.

[David Briggs]

The Democrats should have voted Yes on Hunter's Murtha, then pushed the question further.

Be it resolved that any member of the armed services who is presently on duty in Iraq or Afghanistan should immediately be given the choice of coming home. These are the men and women who are in harm's way. It should be their decision whether to stay or leave.

How would the Republicans deal with such a proposal? Ours is a volunteer military. Why do you oppose letting its voluntary nature be ratified by each individual in a combat zone? Not a single one of them should be there except willingly. Give each soldier the right to revoke their enlistment.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Yes and no.

The whole thing was a set-up by manipulating the focus of the issue by the republicans defining the question in their favor. If the dems had voted yes, they'd have it on file for the 2006 election season.

I have serious doubts that Hastert would have allowed your resolution to reach the floor for a vote as it would not have benefitted the republican members and the White House.

If the Pentagon were truly independent (which it isn't), it would be interesting to see how the leadership in the various branches of the military feel about when "enough is enough".

[Catch22Dem]

2. I call bullshit

Voting Yea would have lent credibility to Hunter's ridiculous prop.

[patriotvoice]

3. Voluntary

"Ours is a volunteer military."

Yes, citizens volunteer to enlist. They then voluntarily sign a contract committing themselves to a specified term of service. The military then trains them, at considerable cost, and uses them as it seems fit. The military commits its resources to building them into soliders, and they agree to serve its whim until the contract expires.

Other agencies have similar contracts. When you enlist as a Special Agent, for example, you train for 14 weeks at Quantico (at considerable Marine Corps expense) then agree to serve the FBI for at least 2 years in the region they choose.

So, the soldiers are there, willingly or not. They are obligated to the job for which they enlisted. It is our responsibility as citizens to ensure our soldiers are not used recklessly. We the People have failed and must press the civilian command into a plan that works.

On edit: corrected inaccurate word in quotation.

[truthisfreedom]

4. the Dems did the right thing. they voted against a murdurous GOP bill

that would have killed thousands of our troops by not providing for their safety during sudden irrational deployment.

[emulatorloo]

5. Dems avoided a poisonous Karl Rove Democrat Trap IMHO n/t

[cindyw]

6. It was not Murtha's ammendment.

Why should they vote for something that is wrong? Not even Murtha was calling for what that ammendment said

[Sparkly]

7. "Hunter's Murtha?" Huh?

They were correct to vote "no" and show what a stupid strawman argument the GOP is fabricating.

Further, the military doesn't enlist and then pick and choose their battles. This has to be dealt with at the top.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. What utter stupidity

The vote last night was correct. Hunter's resolutuon was a fraud and a very bad resolution to boot. Voting yes on it would have been stupid. Now you propose a resolution that gives members of the military the OPTION to choose out of combat? Do you have any idea how incredibly dumb that is? Put simply, that is not how the military works, not how any military has ever worked, and not how any military could ever work. It is a stupid idea to the point of insanity. The onus is on the civilian leadership to make good decisions for the military as a whole, not on each individual in the military to "decide" whether or not to be at such and such a place. What's next?

"Murphy! You and Gonzalez circle 50 yards left and set up enfilade fire with the 50 cal. Go!"

"Um, sorry Lieutenant. I don't choose to do that right now..."

:rofl:

[patriotvoice]

10. Hah!

Those guys would be that lieutenant's rag doll -- and some sergeant's chew toy -- for months. Hilarious!

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. I twas not Murtha's, it was Hunter's

play chess much? There were not too many ways they could win, they pulled a check mate, they forced a debate...

[Skittles]

11. GARBAGE

THEY VOTED AGAINST GARBAGE