War vet rips Democrats for banning 'global war on terror'

War vet rips Democrats for banning 'global war on terror'

A Texas congressman and decorated combat veteran is denouncing House Democrats who want to eliminate the phrase "global war on terrorism" from their legislative dictionaries. Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee reportedly want to ban that wording from the 2008 defense budget because they believe the phrase coined by President Bush is too broad.

U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (R-Texas), who was a prisoner of war in Hanoi for seven years during the Vietnam War, says it is "crazy" for anyone to think the war on terror is not a global fight. "I think it's kind of ridiculous," he asserts. "The House Democratic leaders, especially, have been pushing for a withdrawal timetable from Iraq; and now they're saying there's not really a war over there. I just don't believe it."

Ignoring the role of terror is just as bad as tolerating it, Johnson contends. "It's difficult to say that we're not fighting a global war on terror when, in fact, you've got about three different factions that are fighting us," he says. "We're fighting in two different countries over there, and it started in the United States itself."

The Texas Republican and 29-year Air Force veteran feels it makes no sense to claim there is not a "global war on terror" when countries like Syria and Iran have been aiding terrorists with the stated goal of destroying the United States, Great Britain and Israel. "I just cannot believe that there are any Americans that believe the way they're trying to do it," he says.

"We have a discharge petition up on the Congress floor now that has 189 signatures; it needs 218 to make them force a vote," Johnson points out. "But the vote would be, do you want to support the troops or don't you -- just up or down, yes or no," he says, "and I think it's time that they put their money where their mouth is."

Congressman Johnson says few people are aware that House Democrats inserted a restriction into their pork-laden war funding bill that requires U.S. forces to get the approval of Congress and to wait 15 days before responding militarily to a terrorist attack launched against them outside of Iraq.