this is why i didn't bother voting

Democratic leaders are stripping from a military spending bill for the war in Iraq a requirement that President Bush gain approval from Congress before moving against Iran.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other leaders agreed to remove the requirement concerning Iran after conservative Democrats as well as other lawmakers worried about its possible impact on Israel, officials said Monday.

...

The measure provides nearly $100 billion to pay for two wars and includes more money than Bush had requested [emphasis added] for operations in Afghanistan and what Democrats called training and equipment shortages.

(link)

The whole "end the war by defunding it" thing is dead in the water--and always was--because the Republicans can't bring themselves to spend less on the military, and the Democrats can't bring themselves to spend less on anything.

(I know--that's funding for Afghanistan, but the same thing will happen in Iraq. In six months, we will be spending more, not less. If anyone wants to place a wager on that let me know...I need to cover my inevitable losses in the NCAA tournament.)

One more war-related point, that I heard over the weekend. You know we've stepped into it foreign policy-wise when the most sensible criticism comes freaking Iran:

"We are in fact facing a vicious cycle in Iraq. The presence of foreign forces justifies violence ... and violence is used to justify the presence of foreign forces."