Mr President, Shut Up and Sign This Bill

Let's be clear. The Congressional bill to fund the Iraq war would do exactly that: fund the war. The president needs to thank Congress for the favor and sign it.

Let's be clear. Previous war funding bills all have had outside appropriations, i.e., “pork.” The last one was written by Republicans and was chock full of bacon. There is no such thing as a “clean bill” and there never will be.

Let's be clear. The Iraq Study Group called for a draw down of troops. Every poll in the last 8 months has shown that up to 70% of Americans are in favor of a troop reduction. Three-quarters of Iraq's population want US troops out of Iraq. For the president to act shocked shocked that a Congressional funding bill would include a redeployment provision is the ultimate in disingenuousness. If the president were truly concerned with funding the war, he would have engaged Congressional leaders long before the bills were signed and delivered to his desk.

The argument over funding the war is begging for a compromise with some timetable and concrete benchmarks for the Iraqis to follow. For the president to ignore this reality and then become petulant only after he doesn't get his way puts our nation's credibility, whatever shreds may remain, at risk.