News
Thursday, July 29, 2010
US lawmakers reject motion for pulling US troops out of Pakistan
WASHINGTON: US lawmakers on Tuesday beat back a blunt challenge to President Barack Obama’s war strategy, defeating a resolution calling for the removal of US forces from Pakistan by a crushing 38-372 margin. But lawmakers – who face a war-weary public in November mid-term elections – argued about the nearly nine-year-old conflict and Obama’s plan to right the faltering campaign in time to start a draw-down by July 2011. “Wake up America. WikiLeaks’ release of secret war documents gave us 92,000 reasons to end the wars. Pick one,” Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich, author of the Pakistan measure, said as the debate began. Foes of the Afghan war were drawing strength from the leaks by the whistleblower’s website. Kucinich and Republican Representative Ron Paul had seized the chance to introduce a so-called “War Powers” resolution, aimed at boosting congressional control over overseas military deployments, to force Obama to pull forces out of Pakistan. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk