Seventeen House Republicans joined up with 229 Democrats today to turn on their troops in order to "send a message" to their President.

The vote was officially to disapprove "of the decision of the President announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq," but as Jeff Emanuel wrote in our featured editorial today, the message they are really sending isn't to the President, but to the troops and to our enemies.

Here's a list of the Republican traitors who switched sides:

Mike Castle (Del.)
Howard Coble (N.C.)
Tom Davis (Va.)
John Duncan (Tenn.)
Phil English (Pa.)
Wayne Gilchrest (Md.)
Bob Inglis (S.C.)
Timothy Johnson (Ill.)
Walter Jones (N.C.)
Ric Keller (Fla.)
Mark Kirk (Ill.)
Steven LaTourette (Ohio)
Ron Paul (Texas)
Tom Petri (Wis.)
Jim Ramstad (Minn.)
Fred Upton (Mich.)
Jim Walsh (N.Y.)

Find their contact info here. It's important that they get feedback on a vote like this.

Two Democrats that ought to be commended for breaking free from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's choke hold are Representatives Jim Marshall (Ga.) and Gene Taylor (Miss.).