House Fight Over Iraq Resolution

In a scene more familiar to Britain’s Parliament than the U-S House of Representatives, political maneuvering over the war in Iraq erupted late Friday night into insults and angry debate over a resolution to end the presence of American troops in Iraq.

There’s been growing concern among members of congress about the ongoing involvement in the war. Even though the resolution was nearly unanimously defeated, Friday night’s vote didn’t bring any more consensus to the issue.

Nashville Congressman Jim Cooper said his colleagues ‘were acting like children,’ on the floor, after a freshman congresswoman from Ohio insulted the democrat sponsoring a resolution to end American involvement by January first. Another Tennessee congressman, Harold Ford Junior, who’s also running for Bill Frist’s senate seat, charged across the aisle to point fingers into the chests of several republicans who he accused of hurling insults.

Cooper says setting an artificial deadline doesn’t take into account the situation on the ground in Iraq.

“We need to understand the situation better. We’ll know it more clearly after the December elections in Iraq. That will help us see if they’re on a more stable path or if the country’s going to degenerate into civil war.”

No Tennessee representative voted for the withdrawal proposal.