LTE, Philadelphia Daily News

On June 16, 2006 the House of Representatives, led by the Republican Majority, voted on a nonbinding resolution rejecting a timetable for our brave troops to come home, expressing the sense that an "arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment" would be bad for the nation. Or, as President Bush so forcefully put it, "As Iraqis stand up, American troops will stand down."

Yet on June 15, 2006, Republican Senate members, including Ted Stevens, Lamar Alexander, Mitch McConnell, Jon Cornyn, and Saxby Chambliss among others, spoke in glowing terms of Prime Minister Maliki's plan to give amnesty to the insurgents who have been killing our troops steadily for the past 3 years. Alexander compared the move to Nelson Mandela's struggle for peace in South Africa. McConnell suggested a resolution praising the Iraqi government for offering amnesty to people that have been repeatedly characterized as terrorists, Saddam loyalists, and Al Qaeda sympathizers.

So let me get this straight: the Republicans are telling Americans that our troops are going to stay in Iraq for the foreseeable future, while telling the Iraq government in effect that there will be no consequences for killing our soldiers.

This is insane. The Republicans in Congress need to make up their minds and stop talking out of both sides of their mouths.

Brendan Skwire