“We keep asking for a plan. I think the Democrats are nervous just because they haven’t seen a plan yet.” - John P. Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press From The New York Times:
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats are voicing growing unease over the Obama administration’s national security policies, including the seemingly open-ended commitment in Afghanistan and the nettlesome question of what to do with prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
House leaders have yanked from an emergency military spending bill the $80 million that President Obama requested to close the detention center, saying he had not provided a plan for the more than 200 detainees there. The White House has said the center will close by Jan. 22, 2010.
It is virtually certain that the Democratic majorities, with solid Republican support, will approve $96.7 billion in spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for other military operations.
But with votes in the House on Thursday and in the Senate next week, the discomfort among Democrats points to a harder road ahead for Mr. Obama and the prospect of far more serious rancor if conditions worsen overseas.
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My Comment: After 9/11, National Security was the number one issue for the Bush administration .... an issue that was both complex and probably (at times) nerve wracking. For many Democrats at this time, opposition was an easy alternative that was made easier with the passage of time.
Being the governing party now puts many members of Congress at odds with their rhetoric of the past few years. Complicating this even more, is the realization that they now own the National Security debate .... failure and success will now rest on their shoulders .... a situation that I am sure makes many of them very uncomfortable.
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