Kucinich Resolution to End Afghanistan War in 30 Days Fails, 365-65

By Kristina Wong
@kristina_wong
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ABC News' Kristina Wong reports: The House Wednesday overwhelmingly defeated a resolution to set a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.  The resolution, authored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, called for the removal of all U.S. troops within 30 days of its adoption, but gave the president until Dec. 31, 2010 to pull out the military if the 30-day deadline was considered unsafe. The president has set a tentative troops drawdown date of July 2011 - the pace depending on conditions-on-the-ground. By this summer, roughly 100,000 U.S. troops will be serving in Afghanistan. The vote against the resolution was 356-to-65.  Five Republicans, and 60 Democrats backed the resolution. The bill was originally cosponsored by 16 Democrats. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., called President Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan “shameful,” saying he didn’t think fighting a military war in Afghanistan served the U.S.’s national security interests. “Someone … said, ‘Oh, I can't go to a funeral and tell the parents of someone who just died that they lost their child in vain.' Somewhere I heard that during the Vietnam war. So what is it we got to do? We got to double-down on a bad policy to protect the honor of those who have already died? I don't think so. There isn't a soldier in this country who's laid down their lives for our nation that isn't a hero. And no one in here disagrees with that,” he yelled into the nearly empty House chamber. He also called the national news media “despicable”, saying it was more focused on frivolous news stories, such as on former Rep. Eric Massa, than on the war in Afghanistan. Massa, D-N.Y., was one of the original co-sponsors of the bill. ABC News' Dean Norland contributed to this report.