The bill passed on almost the narrowest of margins 218-212 and passed predominantly when, as CNBC reported, Pelosi approached her members and said, "what do you want the headlines on this to read?  Do you want them to read that this was a victory for the president, or do you want them to read that this was a victory for us?"

And there you have it.  In logic that is clearly blinded by ego and ignorance, the Democrats passed this legislation.  In doing so, they have sent a clear message, but not to whom they intended.  To the president, who almost immediately reiterated that he would veto the bill, there was no message sent.  To the Iraqi government, still struggling with American aid to secure their liberated country is too busy to pay this serious attention.  But Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda got the message loud and clear and I can now hear the Champaign corks popping from Baghdad, to Anbar Province, to Damascus, to Tehran, to our cells still operating in our own cities.  Today, the terrorists celebrate the fact that the United States House of Representatives has confirmed that Al-Qaeda has won their first major victory in this new global war.

"A narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law and brings us no closer to getting the troops the resoures they need to do their job," the president said.

The president's response to the Democrats' actions today was dead on.  They dare to call him arrogant when he is the only one who seems to get it.  This is not about him, this is not about Pelosi, and this is not about bragging rights.  This is about one thing and one thing only, our brave men and women who even now, despite the lack of support from one of their elected bodies of Congress are working diligently to stabilize Iraq and secure the United States.  The only arrogance taking place today is that of House Democrats who are starved for a political victory.  And today they demonstrated that they are willing to risk the lives of our troops in order to get it.

There is no relevance behind their logic, as they seem to be ignoring the voices of the most important people involved in this debate, our men and women in the armed forces.  NO policy on military affairs should ever be made without taking into serious consideration the attitudes and morale of the soldiers who are actually doing the fighting.

I cannot say that I have spoken to many of them myself, but I have spoken to enough.  Not one family has told me that they do not support their loved one's mission in defending our country as well as Iraq.  Not one soldier has told me that there is a necessity to withdraw.  NOT ONE!  They believe they can win and rightfully so.  They just need the tools to do it, and today that is precisely what the Democrats denied them.  To those Democrats I pose one question.  If there is such overwhelming support for withdraw as you claim, why has it taken your Congressional caucus nearly four months to pass this legislation through a backdoor avenue?  That does not sound to me to be a policy with "overwhelming support."

I have mentioned before what Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is saying on the campaign trail and I will state it here again because I believe it is the main point that all Americans must focus on as we continue this global war against terror.  This is not being waged by America; it is being waged against it.  Pulling our troops out of Iraq DOES NOTHING to make this country safer.  In fact, it makes this country less safe.  The terrorists are now emboldened by the fact that a house of Congress is prepared to surrender to them.

So what does happen when America get hit again?  Will we have the stomach and resolve that time to fight terrorism?  The stomach and resolve to accept that this war will mean sacrificing resources and humans?  Will we be ready to defend our country, our liberty and our way of life?  Today, the Democrats answered no to all of those questions, and I doubt they posses the common sense to understand that.

The Democrats had Bush in their cross hairs today and they fired.  But they didn't fire a political bullet that would hurt only him, they fired a two-ton bomb that maybe hurts the president, but also hurts the 150,000 men and women in our armed forces around him who believe in his vision and strategy for a free and stable Iraq.

Now more than ever, Democrats should, and possibly have a duty, to be ashamed of their own actions.