US Senate is debating this Resolution this week

United States Policy in Iraq Resolution of 2007 (Placed on Calendar in Senate)

SJ 9 PCS


Calendar No. 72

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. J. RES. 9
To revise United States policy on Iraq.


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 8, 2007
Mr. REID (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. REED, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. CARPER, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BAYH, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. INOUYE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KOHL, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. TESTER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read the first time


March 9, 2007
Read the second time and placed on the calendar


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JOINT RESOLUTION
To revise United States policy on Iraq.

Whereas Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect the members of the United States Armed Forces who are serving or have served bravely and honorably in Iraq;

Whereas the circumstances referred to in the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243) have changed substantially;

Whereas United States troops should not be policing a civil war, and the current conflict in Iraq requires principally a political solution; and

Whereas United States policy on Iraq must change to emphasize the need for a political solution by Iraqi leaders in order to maximize the chances of success and to more effectively fight the war on terror: Now, therefore, be it


Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the `United States Policy in Iraq Resolution of 2007'.

SEC. 2. PROMPT COMMENCEMENT OF PHASED REDEPLOYMENT OF UNITED STATES FORCES FROM IRAQ.

(a) Transition of Mission- The President shall promptly transition the mission of United States forces in Iraq to the limited purposes set forth in subsection (b).

(b) Commencement of Phased Redeployment From Iraq- The President shall commence the phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this joint resolution, with the goal of redeploying, by March 31, 2008, all United States combat forces from Iraq except for a limited number that are essential for the following purposes:

(1) Protecting United States and coalition personnel and infrastructure.

(2) Training and equipping Iraqi forces.

(3) Conducting targeted counter-terrorism operations.

(c) Comprehensive Strategy- Subsection (b) shall be implemented as part of a comprehensive diplomatic, political, and economic strategy that includes sustained engagement with Iraq's neighbors and the international community for the purpose of working collectively to bring stability to Iraq.

(d) Reports Required- Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the President shall submit to Congress a report on the progress made in transitioning the mission of the United States forces in Iraq and implementing the phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq as required under this section.

Wed Mar 14, 2:17 PM ET

(L-R)Senate Democrats John Kerry, Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) and Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record) take part in a news conference on Capitol Hill following a procedural vote on Iraq on setting a deadline of a little more than a year for full withdrawal of US troops from the war-ravaged country.(AFP/Karen Bleier)

On the setting a deadline for March 2008.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/mar/14/breaking_senate_votes_overwhelmingly_to_allow_debate_on_withdrawal_from_iraq


We know for sure that the plan will get 45 votes. I wonder if any Republicans will vote for it.

here.

"Allies of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., point out that the current withdrawal (or "phased redeployment") proposal introduced last week by Senate Democratic leaders and currently being debated on the floor of the U.S. Senate greatly resembles plans Kerry introduced in October 2005 as well as in June 2006.

Moreover, they note -- with regret in their voice and bile in their mouths -- for his efforts at the time Kerry and his plan were mocked and belittled by his fellow Democratic senators, at least one of whom joined Kerry at a press conference today to push the new proposal"

<snip>

Asked after the press conference if Reid's plan wasn't the same as his from last June, Kerry smiles and said, "They're very similar."

<snip>
"Asked today about the lack of support -- and anonymous sniping -- he experienced back then from the same Democratic senators he stood with today, Kerry said "I'm not interested in going backwards."

http://www.johnkerry.com/news/articles/newsarticle.html?id=135

the story, and have figured it out. Well, you know what this all proves? That Senator Kerry did the right thing dropping out of the '08 race -- would this plan have happened had he been in the running? Good chance, it wouldn't have. Or would have had a lot less supporting it. His political instincts were correct, and I commend him for that foresight into knowing and understanding his fellow senators, and doing the right thing for this country.

http://democrats.senate.gov/multimedia/

I'm hoping C-Span shows the whole thing, will be keeping a lookout for it.

Also LIEberman can eat shit. He does not support the resoluton and in his weaslly way disparged JK on the Senate floor today. He used a quote from Eisenhower that went something like this," Those who set a deadline know nothing about war". Fuck you LIECHENEYberman.

on Thomas? Odd. Actually, I am reassured that he doesn't support it -- that means it is indeed a good plan.

Here is the original list: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=273&topic_id=127267&mesg_id=127306

Now there are only 41 co-sponsors and this may bother both of us Webb is one of them along with Dodd and LIEberman who are no longer co-sponsors. I have no idea what is up.

I can't get the list to copy but here is the link it is #22. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery

That's actually more surprising. I wonder what Webb removing his name will do with the people who declared him (for no reason) the leader.

Lieberman, Dodd, and Webb are on the list in the CR.

I wonder what happened in-between (at least for Dodd and Webb).

Here is Dodd's statement today. He supports it as a first step, but regrets the 120 days delay before the troops start to withdraw and does not like the soft target (I do not disagree).

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-doddstatement0314,0,7742694.htmlstory?coll=hc-headlines-home

posting it here. Thanks.

What the fuck does HE know about war? Where was it again that he spent his time in the military getting his ass shot at? My memory fails me. I despise chickenhawks.

Thanks for posting this clip Fedup. It's nice to see the other Senators up there saying what JK has been saying for years now. JK's restraint in not saying "told you so" is amazing.

Reminds me of Lieberman on the floor of the Senate, lecturing Sen. Kerry and the supporters of the withdrawal amendment, that war is hell. Gee, I should imagine that the people who have actually fought in a war know that. No wonder Sen. Kerry went to CT to campaign for Lamont.

doesn't that count?

It seems that people are getting cold feet.