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By Bill Boyarsky
$23.10
By Sean McMeekin
$27.36
$23
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Sen. Russ Feingold, Majority Leader Harry Reid and eight other Senate Democrats have decided to respond to Bush’s veto with an amendment that would halt war funding if troops were not safely withdrawn from Iraq by March 31, 2008. Exceptions would include operations against terrorist organizations, training for Iraqi soldiers and protection of U.S. infrastructure and personnel.
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While the Bush administration has repeatedly referred to the Democrats’ timetable for withdrawal from Iraq as a recipe for failure, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has praised the measure. He’s also urged an assessment of the troop escalation by this summer—sooner than supporters of the “surge” would like—and indicated support for a withdrawal as outlined by the Iraq Study Group, which he was once a part of.
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By Eugene Robinson — One need only listen to the president’s definition of success in Iraq to appreciate the value of a full and immediate withdrawal.
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The president says the Democrats are trying to substitute political opinions for military judgment (he should talk). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the president wants a blank check for the war and he’s not going to get one (at least for now). On Wednesday they meet to debate the issue in person. Here’s a preview.
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President Bush is set to meet with members of Congress on Wednesday to try to work out a compromise on the Iraq spending bill. It’s not clear what they could possibly agree on, since Bush has said he won’t sign any legislation that calls for a withdrawal, and the essentially nonbinding timetable in the last measure was basically the least the Democrats could do to signal their opposition to the war.
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Making good on his threat, President Bush vetoed the bill Tuesday that would have started U.S. troop withdrawal on Oct. 1 and stipulated that an additional $124 billion would be dedicated to the war effort. Now it’s up to Congress to challenge his veto or come up with another plan instead.
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By Marie Cocco — Senate Republicans continue to oppose a minimum-wage hike, despite the fact that the buying power of the working poor hasn’t approved in five decades.
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By Jeremy Scahill — The author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army” argues that the Democrats’ withdrawal plan—even if it ever gets past a veto—isn’t anything to write home about.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — President Bush and Vice President Cheney cannot make the case that their Iraq policies have succeeded, so they are doing one thing they do very well: taking a serious argument over the future of American foreign policy and turning it into a petty partisan squabble.
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Jon Stewart did not pull his punches with recent guest John McCain in what was more of a showdown than an interview. At one point, the audience applauded Stewart and McCain said wryly, “I think I know whose side they’re on.” The host replied: “They’re on America’s side, because they’re patriots.”
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The House has voted 218 to 208 to approve a withdrawal timetable for Iraq, with a pullout set to begin by Oct. 1. The Senate is expected to pass its version of the bill Thursday, sending the measure to President Bush for his inevitable veto.
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AP Photo / Gerald Herbert
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By Robert Scheer — Ignoring the fact that we have a system of civilian control over the military, which is why he, the elected president, is designated the commander in chief, Bush hides behind the fiction that the officers in the field are calling the shots when in fact he has put them in an unwinnable situation and refuses to even consider a timetable for getting them out.
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inthesetimes.com
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According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 58 percent of Americans trust congressional Democrats to do a better job of setting policy for the Iraq war than the president. An overwhelming majority, however, disapprove of the job both branches of government have done so far.
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George W. Bush is upset with the Democrats for wanting to withdraw from Iraq just when we’ve finally started to make progress. Just starting? The president has been citing “progress” in Iraq for years now, and Jon Stewart has the clips to prove it.
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MoveOn.org recently held a virtual town hall giving every Democrat running for president a chance to sound off on the biggest issue of day: the Iraq war. Here are the highlights.
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The president has threatened to veto a war spending bill that includes a timetable for the withdrawal of troops, but that didn’t stop the Senate on Thursday from passing one. The next step is for the House and Senate to work out the differences between their competing withdrawal plans, and then it’s off to the White House.
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With Congress nearing a consensus on a withdrawal timetable, the president repeated the claim Wednesday that Democrats would be held responsible for denying the troops funding. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded by saying Bush should “Calm down with the threats,” and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid simply asked, “Why doesn’t he get real with what’s going on with the world?”
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washtimes.com
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The Senate narrowly defeated a Republican amendment Tuesday that would have removed a withdrawal plan from the emergency war spending bill. As the legislation stands, the U.S. will have to begin a troop withdrawal within four months after the law is enacted and complete the pullout by March 31, 2008.
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AP Photo / Jerome Delay
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By Robert Scheer — The man who once famously took a sledgehammer to Saddam Hussein’s statue now says “the Americans are worse than the dictatorship.” That’s a growing sentiment in George W. Bush’s Iraq, where a majority of people view attacks on coalition forces as acceptable.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — Americans are starting to learn the real lessons of the Iraq war: Dissent has value, political conformity costs lives and leaders who fail time and again don’t deserve one more chance.
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The former U.N. weapons inspector, who was scorned for saying there were no WMD in Iraq, speaks with Robert Scheer about American ignorance, the lies that led us to war, Iran’s nuclear program and more. Update: Transcript now available.
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boston.com
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Despite the threat of a veto, withdrawal legislation moved forward in the House Thursday. Meanwhile, in the Senate, a weaker measure was successfully opposed by all but one Republican, two Democrats and Joe Lieberman.
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Jon Stewart pokes fun at the Democrats after a recent press conference that did little to assuage the concern that they don’t entirely have their stuff together. Say what you will about the Republicans, they know how to work a talking point. Speaking of which, don’t miss Dick Cheney’s entrance music at the end of the clip.
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latimes.com
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Military commanders have begun to develop a contingency plan for Iraq that envisions a drawdown of troops. The strategy is based in large part on past American machinations in El Salvador, and will focus on training locals rather than providing the main force.
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The Democratic leadership in the House hopes to attach a timetable for withdrawal to an upcoming Iraq war spending bill. The most ardent war opponents have expressed dissatisfaction that the language is not unconditional, but Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a prominent withdrawal advocate, said “you’ll see basically what I wanted to do….”
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David Swanson —
The courts aren’t likely to be of any help in stopping the Iraq war. And this White House seems incapable of rational thought on the subject. Clearly, the legislative branch is the way to go. But what exactly can it do?
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fatu.us
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A majority of Americans—56 percent—now favor a withdrawal from Iraq, even if it leaves the country in chaos. According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, two-thirds also opposed a “surge” of troops, and 58 percent approved of Jack Murtha’s plan to stop the escalation.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Vice President Dick Cheney celebrated the Australian government’s commitment to the Iraq war (1,450 troops) on Thursday, saying “the whole world respects you for it.” But Australians certainly don’t: More than two-thirds of the nation’s population want a withdrawal.
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telegraph.co.uk
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The Iraqi president and prime minister have welcomed Tony Blair’s decision to withdraw some troops, and Iraq’s national security adviser said he only wished the force reduction would happen sooner. The British prime minister announced Wednesday that he intends to withdraw 1,600 soldiers from southern Iraq.
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defenselink.mil
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Tony Blair is expected to announce a major withdrawal of British troops from Iraq by Christmas—possibly up to half of the current deployment. Although Britons largely oppose the war, the news may come as something of a disappointment as there were rumors Blair was going to withdraw troops more rapidly.
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AP Photo / Seth Wenig
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Presidential contender Barack Obama has gotten serious about Iraq after months of public speculation on where he stands. The senator offered legislation Tuesday night that would set a deadline of March 31, 2008, for the withdrawal of all combat brigades from Iraq.
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msnbc.com
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A parade of experts before the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed the power of Congress to “validly limit the presidential use of force.” Tuesday’s hearing came as legislators prepared to square off against Bush’s war escalation and amid the concern, shared by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., that a constitutional battle is “imminent.”
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theage.com.au
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As the U.S. prepares to escalate the war, Britain’s plan to withdraw up to 3,000 troops from southern Iraq has added tension to an already strained relationship.
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newmediamusings.com
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Truthdig contributor Marc Cooper, writing for The Nation, uncovers a growing movement of active-duty soldiers who are petitioning Congress to begin the withdrawal of troops. A 21-year-old soldier serving in Iraq who signed the petition says of the war: “The well is so poisoned by what we have done here that nothing can fix it.”
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Flipping through the news channels on Wednesday, one would have seen an endless parade of pundits and politicians praising the Iraq Study Group’s report. One exception was a man who was critical of the war before it was in style, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who told “Countdown’s” Keith Olbermann: “The fact is, this commission was composed apparently entirely of people who did not have the judgment to oppose this Iraq war in the first place….” Watch it
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DoD / R.D. Ward
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Another confidential memo has landed in the hands of The New York Times, this one written by Don Rumsfeld himself. The disgraced former defense secretary suggested major changes in Iraq strategy, including the possibility of troop withdrawals: “In my view it is time for a major adjustment.” Bush apparently agreed, firing Rumsfeld just two days later.
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The president’s attempt to whitewash “stay the course” from the nation’s collective memory is emblematic of the bankruptcy of his administration’s policy on Iraq.
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This week Truthdig Editor Robert Scheer looks at Elbaradei’s nuclear prophecy, Iraq after US withdrawal and Stan Goff’s “Reflecting on Rumsfeld.”
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This week Truthdig Editor Robert Scheer looks at Elbaradei’s nuclear prophecy, Iraq after withdrawal and Stan Goff’s “Reflecting on Rumsfeld.”
Posted on Oct 20, 2006
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Two-thirds of Democratic voters favor setting a timeline for withdrawing troops from Iraq, says a new Wash Post poll, while most of the Democratic presidential hopefuls for 2008 remain noncommittal. The poll also shows that Democrats are quickly losing ground to Republicans on key 2006 election issues.
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Greenland’s Great Melt Is Pinned On Climate Change
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