Right-thinking Democrats are backing away from Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold's proposal to end funding for the war in Iraq by March 31 of next year. While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has endorsed Feingold's plan, other top Democrats, such as Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., have been quick to distance themselves from the proposal.

Feingold's plan calls for war funding to terminate by March 31, 2008, as well as troop withdrawals to begin within 120 days of passing the proposal. This is a step up from the recent House proposal that set a deadline of September 2008.

This is no more than an attempt to simply starve our troops out of Iraq. Sen. Feingold seems to be gambling the lives of our servicemen and women by using the power of the purse to more or less bankrupt the military's ability to counter the insurgency in Iraq.

His intent is obviously to end the war. No one is claiming that he is trying to cause harm to the troops or anything of that nature. But the scary thing is how willing Sen. Feingold is to simply cut off the military's lifeline without exploring other exit strategies.

The troops deserve better than that. Feingold is using them as a mere political tool to force the president to withdraw. No matter what the circumstances, the troops should always have the funding and the support they need to carry out their missions, whether those missions are popular or unpopular. Their lives are not political tools that should be gambled.

While setting a timetable for withdrawal is a terrible idea that would produce disastrous consequences, this avenue of approach would at least still show support for the men and women who are risking their lives over there everyday.

Feingold's plan would effectively force the troops out of Iraq because of lack of support from home. Talk about support for the troops. Essentially, the troops would be told they are out of luck and unable to combat any threats to their security after March 31, 2008.

Luckily, not everyone shares the same sentiments as Sen. Feingold.

"We're not going to vote to cut funding, period," Levin said in a Fox News report. Other top Democrats echoed these sentiments.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is also opposed to Feingold's proposal, said in the same report, "Nothing — nothing — will stand in our way of supporting the troops in every way."

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said in a letter to President Bush, "I do not believe that we can or should cut funding for our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan while we anticipate that our troops will be in harm's way."

Cutting off funding would send a clear message not only to our troops, but also to the insurgency. The insurgents are not cut off from the American media; they read our papers and watch our news. If they know the end is in sight and that our troops will no longer have the financial support they need, then they also know that all they have to do is wait it out.

This is yet another problem with applying a timetable to the war. If we set a concrete date for withdrawal, then all the war becomes is a waiting game.

Obviously, Iraq is a mess right now. But the United States must stay the course or it will leave a blueprint for any future enemy to defeat it. The troops must be funded until the Iraqi government can stand on its own and take care of itself independent of the United States. But our commitment cannot be indefinite either.

The Bush administration and Congress need to work together to pass legislation that keeps the pressure on the Iraqi government to meet benchmarks for progress. We made the mess, so let's clean it up and do it right. But if the Iraqi government becomes complacent and begins to rely solely on U.S. support, then we can talk about timetables for withdrawal.

Sen. Feingold's willingness to use the lives of the troops as a political tool on Capitol Hill is a frightening proposition. Under no circumstances should funding for the troops come into question. No matter what your position on the war itself is, if our servicemen and women are in harm's way, they deserve the country's full support until the job is done, and they are back home. Let the generals run the war, not the politicians.

Joe Trovato ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in journalism.