By Vicki Allen
Lawmakers Blame Spain, Battle Over Iraq
Wed March 17, 2004 10:14 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republicans charged Spain's new government with appeasing terrorists on Wednesday as politicians accused rivals of exploiting the Iraq war for election-year advantage in a bitter House of Representatives debate.
As the dust settled from a deadly explosion at a Baghdad hotel, top Republicans who control the House trained their fire on Spain. The pro-Bush government was replaced in an election on Sunday, three days after train bombings in Madrid killed 201 people, and the new government has promised to pull Spanish troops from Iraq.
"Here is a country that stood against terrorism, and had a huge terrorist act within their country, and they chose to change their government and to in a sense appease terrorists," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, of Illinois, said.
Majority Leader Tom DeLay, of Texas, said, "If we follow the example of the new Spanish government and we accept failure in Iraq and permit the victory of the terrorists, there will be no counting the number of people around the world who will suffer the consequences."
Republicans pushed through the House a resolution to mark the anniversary of the Iraq war's start and commend U.S. troops, passing it 327-93.
While many ended up voting for it to back the troops, Democrats called the resolution a politically motivated endorsement of President Bush (news - web sites)'s Iraq policies that glossed over deaths and errors of the conflict and occupation.
A line that drew fire from many Democrats said "the United States and the world have been made safer with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in Iraq."
"Is it safer today in Spain? Is it safer in the Middle East? Putting it on paper doesn't mean that we're out of the conflict," said Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat.
BITTER DEBATE
Republicans said their resolution was nonpartisan, did not mention Bush, and was meant to rally lawmakers behind U.S. forces.
But Democrats called it a trap to force them to cast votes that could be used against them in November elections, either to be seen as endorsing a war many thought was a grievous mistake, or as not supporting troops.
"The mission is far from being accomplished and President Bush will be judged harshly for the tragic events of the last year," said Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida, who said Bush misled the nation into believing Iraq was an imminent threat with weapons of mass destruction and links to al Qaeda.
But Republicans touted the end of Saddam's brutal regime and Iraq's steps toward democracy. "Things have changed and it is because of the steadfastness of this president and this nation and this Congress," Hastert said before the debate.
"I'm sure that John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi will have a different view," Hastert said of the Democratic presidential nominee and the House Democratic leader.
Even though no banned weapons have been found in Iraq, DeLay called Saddam "a mass murderer sitting atop a nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons program, a ticking time bomb, a nuclear 9-11 waiting to happen."
Democrats said the resolution ignored the rising death toll among U.S. soldiers, humanitarian workers, Iraqi civilians and others, and the ongoing violence including Wednesday's car-bombing at a Baghdad hotel that killed 27 people.
"With their resolution, the Republicans are in denial as to why we went into Iraq, in denial as to the current state of stability and security in Iraq," said Pelosi, of California. (additional reporting by Joanne Kenen)
