Diatribune

Proving once again that they are nothing more than lap dogs for the President, republican senators refused to allow a vote on an amendment to begin redeployment of troops in Iraq.  From MSNBC:

The Democratic proposal, by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., would have required President Bush to start bringing home troops within 120 days and complete the pullout by April 30, 2008. Under the bill, an unspecified number of troops could remain behind to conduct a narrow set of missions: counterterrorism, protecting U.S. assets and training Iraqi security forces.

The vote was 52-47 to cut off debate on the amendment and allow a vote. It is clear that Democrats have the votes they

need to pass the bill if Republicans would allow them to vote on it. These are the same republicans who cried crocodile tears when Democrats threatened to filibuster the Alito Supreme Court nomination, even going so far as threatening to use the so called "nuclear option" and bring an end to the 60 vote requirement for cloture. This is one of the arguments republicans made against the bill:

The amendment tells our enemies when they can take over in Iraq," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who is up for re-election next year.

Apparently the republicans think that when we leave Iraq we are going to sneak out in the middle of the night withiout letting anyone know we are leaving. They are really that dumb!!

Fortunately this is only the beginning. Those of us who are committed to supporting our troops are going to continue to call for redeployment. This movement is only going to grow larger and louder. So get ready to call your senators again when the next vote comes up. Keep the pressure on!

UPDATE:

Senator Reid has just pulled the Defense Authoriztion Bill from the floor. Here is an up date from Bob Geiger:

In an in-your-face response to Republicans continuing to block a full Senate vote on withdrawing American troops from Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just moments ago set aside the pending Defense Authorization Bill until the Senate's Republican leadership stops defying the will of the majority of Congress and the American people and allows votes on the Iraq occupation.

"This has been a long week and it is only Wednesday," said Reid on the Senate floor. "We have now been in session continuously for 2 days. On Monday I submitted a simple request for consent to proceed to an up or down vote on the Levin/Reed Amendment to the Defense Authorization bill. As I have stated, this amendment provides a clear, binding and responsible path to change the U.S. mission and reduce our combat presence in Iraq."

"Regrettably, Republicans chose to block this amendment. They chose to deny the American people an up or down vote on a bipartisan amendment. They chose to continue protecting their President instead of our troops – no matter the cost to our country."

Reid then laid out his next step: "Because Republicans continue to block votes on important amendments to the Defense Authorization bill, we can make no further progress on Iraq and this bill at this time."

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