Kucinich to Get House Vote on Afghanistan Pullout

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, an outspoken Ohio lawmaker who twice ran for president as an antiwar candidate, plans to bring his case for a speedy withdrawal from Afghanistan to the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Kucinich, a Democrat, is a leader of the House Progressive Caucus and among those disappointed that President Obama, himself an antiwar candidate, has not moved faster to get U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kucinich's resolution, with 16 co-sponsors, will get three hours of debate on the question of withdrawing within 30 days, or by the end of the year, if an immediate pullout would be too dangerous. Obama is moving toward an end of combat operations in Iraq but has increased troop strength in Afghanistan.

Kucinich is invoking the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires congressional approval for a president to keep troops in a conflict for more than 90 days, the Washington Post reported. The law, passed during the Vietnam War, has many provisos and is difficult to enforce. Congress has never declared war against Afghanistan, but approved a use-of-force resolution following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"We haven't had a real debate -- we want to light the fire of the American peace movement," said Kucinich, onetime mayor of Cleveland and a presidential hopeful in 2004 and 2008.

His resolution, though largely symbolic, gives voice to lawmakers unhappy that Obama ordered 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan before Congress approved funding for the surge.