In explaining his recent vote against an immediate pullout from Iraq, Maryland Representative and senatorial candidate Ben Cardin claimed to be a critic of the Iraqi war, saying, “I have called on President Bush to bring America a plan to bring the troops home safely and responsibly.” In fact, the Congressman’s voting record on the war this year shows that he is one of a small minority of Democrats to vote down the line in support of the president’s position. In 2005, with the chips on the line in Iraq, Representative Cardin voted against a resolution calling for President Bush to formulate a plan for bringing the troops home from Iraq and voted for a resolution authorizing the President to stay in Iraq indefinitely.
*On May 25, 2005 the Congressman voted against the Woolsey Amendment, which simply expressed “the sense of Congress that the President should develop a plan for the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq, and submit this plan to the congressional defense committees.”
*On July 20, 2005 the Congressman broke with 65 percent of Democrats to vote for the House Resolution authored by Bush supporter Ros-Lehtinen (R- Florida), which specifies that the U. S. must not withdraw from Iraq until “it is clear that United States national security and foreign policy goals relating to a free and stable Iraq have been or are about to be achieved.” This resolution mirrors President Bush’s position on Iraq; it authorizes him to keep U. S. troops in Iraq indefinitely until he certifies that these vague and expansive goals have been met.
Votes don’t lie. Yet Representative Cardin never mentions, much less explains to the people of Maryland, his votes on the war.
Since announcing my candidacy for the U. S. Senate in Maryland, I have called for a definite plan for a troop withdrawal from Iraq to begin by the end of this year and to be completed next year. Unlike Representative Cardin, I would have voted for the Woolsey Amendment and against the Ros-Lehtinen Resolution.
Check out my website for my position on the war and other issues:
Allan Lichtman for Senate.
