Vets In Congress

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

This is a pretty good look at what those vets serving in Congress are doing.

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - When it comes to ending the war in Iraq, Toni Bailey thought she had her own white knight in Congress. Joe Sestak, a retired Navy admiral, won his House seat last year as a Democrat who opposed the war.

But eight months later, Ms. Bailey is angry. "Where is the ire of our Congress who, last election, had a mandate to end the occupation and bring our troops home?" the retired schoolteacher asked at a town-hall meeting here with Representative Sestak. "What will it take for the Congress of the United States of America to do the will of the people?"

It's a question on the minds of many voters frustrated with the war – especially those who elected military veterans who said they opposed the conflict. Now these veterans, newly minted as congressmen, are looking such tough crowds in the eye and explaining that withdrawal from Iraq isn't as simple as all that. The US exit must be carried out responsibly, Sestak says – and over the course of at least 15 months.

And Democrats simply don't have the votes – at least not yet – to begin withdrawal. "Many are aggrieved that this Congress has been unsuccessful in trying to end this war," Sestak said after the meeting. "As a representative, I have to listen, but it's also my job as a congressman ... to use my judgment."

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**Tumbleweed** · Admin Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 4

He made a good point. They can't end the war without enough votes to over-ride a veto.

**CHUQ** · Agitator Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts votes: 3

Another prob is not that many reps actually serve in the military. Say after WWII a bunch were there and vets got a mdescent shake from the govt, without anyone serving then the vets are getting the shaft for none of these Prisilla's know what it is like. I am almost willing to vote for someone who is a vet than some guy who sat on his ass and worried about which game to play.