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Dems Allegedly 'Conducting Guerrilla Warfare on Troops'
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Correspondent
June 23, 2005

(CNSNews.com) -- Congressional Democrats are engaged in a "growing pattern" of demoralizing American troops, according to House Republican leaders who Wednesday showed no willingness to let the controversial comments of Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin die.

"While our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line each day to defend our safety and to protect our freedoms, I am sure the least they expect is the backing and the support of their leaders at home," said Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Republican Conference.

"To the contrary," Pryce added, "what we've seen from Democrat leaders is a growing pattern of jumping at any chance to point the finger at our own troops, bending over backwards to promote the interests of terror-camp detainees while dragging our military's honored reputation through the mud."

Pryce was reacting to recent comments made by Durbin, the second ranking Democrat in the Senate, about the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. Durbin initially compared the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to the way Nazis, the Stalin-led Soviet Union and the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia handled prisoners. Following much criticism, including from members of his own party, Durbin apologized on the floor of the Senate Tuesday.

Wednesday, Pryce slammed both Durbin and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for their handling of the Guantanamo Bay issue. "For Leader Pelosi and Senator Durbin, if prison-camp detainees are given anything other than pillow-top mattresses or lean-cut filet mignon, they're being treated inhumanely and our military is to blame," Pryce said.

Jennifer Crider, press secretary to Pelosi, told Cybercast News Service that Pryce's remarks amounted to "a ridiculous statement, completely not based on fact." Pelosi on Tuesday had joined with one of her California Democrat colleagues, Rep. Henry Waxman, in introducing legislation aimed at establishing an independent commission to investigate the alleged abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who joined Pryce at the press conference, told Cybercast News Service that it "is just inconceivable and truly incorrigible that in the midst of the war, that the Democratic leaders would be conducting guerrilla warfare on American troops.

He also labeled the Pelosi/Waxman proposal for an independent commission "simply another example of some Democrat leaders trusting the words of terrorists over the proven decency of U.S. troops.

"The American taxpayer is already providing accommodations for detainees, who are currently more comfortable than most of our men and women in uniform," Wilson added.

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