Stop Funding It!

Democratic legislation to regulate troop combat tours in Iraq ran into stiff resistance in the Senate Wednesday from Republicans who said the military, not Congress, should manage deployments.

The proposal by Sen. Jim Webb, a former Navy secretary and Vietnam veteran, would require that troops be allowed as much time at home as they do deployed. Currently, Army soldiers spend about 15 months in combat and 12 months home.

One of several Democratic proposals intended to challenge President Bush on the Iraq war, Webb’s bill was seen as having the best shot at achieving the 60 votes needed to advance. The bill attracted three dozen co’sponsors, including Republicans Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Gordon Smith of Oregon.

“You cannot continue to load on to 1 percent of our society all the burdens, all the sacrifices as we are doing. It’s wrong,” Hagel told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference.

More at the Guardian