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Let the wailing from the Left commence. They can't stand being called out for being politically opportunistic and therefore must call a House vote calling for the immediate pullout introduced by Republicans to call their bluff from Iraq a political stunt.

This all started with Rep. John Murtha's comments yesterday calling for an immediate withdrawal at the earliest practicable date, which reinforced his comments from a year ago that this war was unwinnable. Murtha was annointed a 'hawk' by the media, although there's no sign that he was ever a hawk on the war.

So, the vote came to pass and a strange thing happened. Most of Congress voted to continue in Iraq. Even Rep. Murtha even voted to continue in Iraq. He and his Democratic allies in Congress was hoping to get an alterative version introduced that would call for withdrawal at the earliest practicable date. To me, the earliest practicable date is when the US has secured its national security interest in Iraq - and that means Iraq is a functioning democracy and that the neighboring terror regimes are thwarted from their actions. And that means that the US will be there for quite some time. Which is the same situation we face in Europe - as that deployment continues well past the 60th year of involvment in Europe.

Here's the roll call vote.

So, who voted for withdrawal immediately? Three Democrats, Jose Serrano of New York, Robert Wexler of Florida and Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, voted for withdrawal. Six Democrats voted present: Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington; Jerrold Nadler, Maurice Hinchey and Major Owens of New York; Michael Capuano of Massachusetts and William Lacy Clay of Missouri.

Who wasn't there to vote? Considering that there were 435 members, who didn't vote? 16 Republicand and 6 Democrats did not vote.

So, what's the real Democratic plan for Iraq? Cut and run.

Even Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) voted to continue in Iraq. Curious. He's been one of the most virulently anti-war politicians out there. He's complained about everything from needing to reinstitute the draft (and that there were secret plans to do so because the military was so in need of troops due to Iraq bleeding the military dry) to the military specifically targeting minorities and the poor (although the statistics show that the military recruits and retains a fully diverse background of people from all socioeconomic groups in proportion to their presence in the population at large).

Michelle Malkin and Glenn Reynolds note that someone in the GOP has developed a spine. However, Glenn thinks it was a mistake to use the language withdraw immediately. I'm not so sure. Democrats may complain that this was grandstanding, but it does send the message to the troops that Congress is behind their efforts and wont cut and run immediately.

It also leaves open the possibility of troop reductions after December elections, which was always on the Pentagon's drawing board.

UPDATE:
Go back through 20th Century wars and you'll see a pattern. Jay Tea did. Where there is an exit strategy discussed, the problems not only persist, but the situation becomes worse. There certainly seems to be a pattern there.

UPDATE:
Rusty and Ace both slam the Democrats. In fact, Ace points out that only a handful of Democrats actually read the intel reports, as per Senators own comments.

UPDATE:
So has AJ Strata, who comments on the jujitsu of the GOP that not only exposed the Left's empty arguments, but has gotten under the skin of the DUers. USS Neverdock concurs. When given the chance to vote on the withdrawal of troops, few if any Democrats stand by their convictions. They're far more interested in the sniping at the Administration instead of offering a true alternative. Suitably Flip comments on the grandstanding (which he notes was involved on both sides, although calling someone's bluff isn't grandstanding).

UPDATE:
Mudville Gazette has a link to No End But Victory.

UPDATE:
Cross linked to Right Wing Nation, Conservative Cat, Adam's Blog, Stuck on Stupid, Moonbattery. Captain Ed has more, including a blow by blow accounting of the vote and the immediate reactions.