On Tuesday night, President Bush vetoed legislation that would have
started bringing our troops home this year. Congress is deciding
right now how to respond.

Speaker Pelosi says Congress won't give the president another
"blank
check" on the war.1 But Democrats are under enormous pressure from
the administration. Some, like Steny Hoyer, have started to abandon
a
timeline to end the occupation.2

If hundreds of thousands of us speak together we can make it clear
we're counting on Congress to keep fighting for a timeline to end
this war. Click here to add your name to the emergency petition:

http://pol.moveon.org/noveto/one_click_sign.pl?id=10274-6809806-hRKjk4&t=3

Yesterday tens of thousands of us turned out to hundreds of rallies
from Spokane to West Palm Beach to show our widespread opposition
to
the president's veto. Our rallies reflected the mood in the
country-Americans are fed up with endless war.

Now is the time for Democrats to keep the pressure on-not to
buckle.
Republicans are starting to break from the President. A leading
house
Republican said that their unity around the war would not last
long.3
William F. Buckley, one of the architects of the modern
conservative
movement, wrote recently:

The opinion polls are savagely decisive on the Iraq question. About
60 percent of Americans wish the war ended-wish at least a
timetable
for orderly withdrawal......There are grounds for wondering whether
the Republican Party will survive this dilemma.4

But some politicians like Rep. Hoyer-the second ranking Democrat in
Congress-are getting nervous and starting to back away from the
fight. He recently said that he'd consider a bill that contained
benchmarks to measure Iraq's progress but no timeline to end the
war.

We have to be clear: benchmarks alone are not enough to end this
war.
Tell congress to stand firm:

http://pol.moveon.org/noveto/one_click_sign.pl?id=10274-6809806-hRKjk4&t=4

A timeline for withdrawal has overwhelming support from voters all
the way to military leaders.

* Over 64% of Americans want Congress to set a deadline to end
the
occupation in Iraq.5
* The president's own Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates said,
"The
strong feelings expressed in the Congress about the timetable
probably has had a positive impact...in terms of communicating
to
the Iraqis that this is not an open-ended commitment."6
* Ronald Reagan's former NSA director, General Odom, said just
yesterday, "By vetoing this bill and failing to initiate an
immediate and phased withdrawal, the President has effectively
gone AWOL, deserting his duty post, leaving American forces
with
an impossible mission, suffering wholly unnecessary
casualties."7
* Even President Bush himself has supported timelines in the
past.
In 1999, speaking of President Clinton, he said "I think it's
also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to
how
long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn."8

Our troops are stranded in the middle of an unwinnable civil war
with
no end in sight. For four years the president's failed policy in
Iraq
has made a bad situation worse. It's time to get our troops out of
this mess. It's time for the Iraqis to take control of their
country.

Please click here to add your voice to thousands of others calling
on
Congress to stand firm and set a deadline to end this war.

http://pol.moveon.org/noveto/one_click_sign.pl?id=10274-6809806-hRKjk4&t=5

Thanks for all you do,

-Nita, Justin, Wes, Karin and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007

Sources

1 "Congress will not give the president a blank check," Speaker's
Blog, May 1, 2007
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=322

2. "Insults Fly Over Compromise," Reuters, April 24, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2545&id=10274-6809806-hRKjk4&t=6

3. "Senate preparing to send Bush the war bill he'll veto," San
Francisco Chronicle, April 24, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2546&id=10274-6809806-hRKjk4&t=7

4. "Iraq Threatens GOP Future," Universal Press Syndicate, April
30,
2007
http://www.nysun.com/article/53457

5. "Poll: Most Back Congress In Iraq Showdown," CBS News, April 26,
2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2547&id=10274-6809806-hRKjk4&t=8

6. Generals Express Outrage at Presidential Veto, National Security
Network, May 2, 2007
http://www.nsnetwork.org/node/144

7. "Gates Contradicts Bush, Cheney On Timelines," Thinkprogress,
April 18 2007
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/18/gates-timeline/

8. "FLASHBACK: In 1999, Bush Demanded A Timetable." Thinkprogress,
May 1, 2007
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/01/bush-timetable-2/

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