Remove U.S. soldiers from the line of fire.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Craig Mahaffy The Register-Guard

For troops in the midst of battle, the dreaded call `man down!' elicits a powerful response. If the soldier is still alive, urgent steps are taken to remove the wounded soldier from the line of fire and avoid further injury.

In both real and metaphorical terms, U.S. soldiers in Iraq are in just such a situation.

Last year, after many months of watching unspeakable horrors unfold on our TV screens, it began to dawn on a majority of Americans that the troops were mired in an escalating civil war. Polls showed that the delusional hyperbole mouthed by administration officials was losing its power to obscure the daily carnage. Our soldiers were not in the position to cry out directly to us for help, but the faces of the dead, the tears of their families, and the altered lives of the wounded sent out the plea.

We responded in the only manner open to us: our democratic process. Last November, the voters sent a loud and clear message that we want our troops pulled out as soon as possible. By wresting control of both the House and Senate from the Republicans, the American people set the stage for Congress to take appropriate action.

However, the response of Congress has been anything but appropriate. Nonbinding resolutions have been proposed to `express opposition' to the administration's Iraq policy. But like a dysfunctional family member who enables an abuser, Congress is about to give the administration the very means to continue its destructive behavior.

When the founders of our nation were crafting the Constitution, they were careful to ensure that Congress would be granted the sole power to allocate any funds necessary for prosecuting a war. This `power of the purse' was intended to be a safeguard against any president who might be tempted to unilaterally wage war. The administration's current request for funding is precisely the type of situation they had in mind. But the founders were operating on the assumption that Congress would have the integrity and strength to stand up to such a president. In the words of Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.: `If Congress doesn't stop this war, it's not because it doesn't have the power; it's because it doesn't have the will."

Locally, many constituents are surprised to find that even Rep. Peter DeFazio voted twice to fund the war. His rationale is that while he is against the administration's Iraq policy, he wants to `support the troops.' While politically safe, this position is both contradictory and disingenuous.

A bill currently before Congress, House Resolution 508, provides for both the protection of our troops in the field and their withdrawal from Iraq. In the Senate, Feingold has introduced a similar bill, the Iraq Redeployment Act, Senate Bill 448.

Feingold cites Louis Fisher, a specialist in constitutional law of the Law Library of Congress: `Congress can and has used the power of the purse to restrict presidential war power. If members of Congress are worried about American troops fighting for their lives in a futile war, those lives are not protected by voting for continued funding. The proper and responsible action is to terminate appropriations and bring the troops home.'

Withholding funds is the only way to pull the plug on this catastrophic war and to come to the aid of our soldiers being held hostage to a defiant executive branch. Last fall's elections proved that we are not powerless to affect events in Washington. With the proposed `surge' and the administration's request for more funding, yet another opportunity is presenting itself to us to make ourselves heard.

Just weeks before her death, columnist Molly Ivins wrote an impassioned plea (Register-Guard, Jan. 12) regarding the war and the proposed surge:

`We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. ... Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there.'

Our soldiers are waiting for the people to come to their rescue. A `surge' of citizens demanding an immediate withdrawal and an end to funding is one way we can come to their aid. Urge your representatives to support HR 508 in the House, and SB 448 in the Senate. Demand that they put political self interest aside and pull these troops out of harms way with the same speed and dedication our soldiers do when there is a `man down.'

Craig Mahaffy is a local writer, event organizer and member of Cut the Funding, Stop the War, a committee of Eugene Peaceworks.