July 13, 2007
GOP Senators Offer Bill Directing Bush To Plan Iraq Withdrawal
Richard Lugar and John Warner, two Republican stalwarts of the Senate, introduced an amendment this afternoon that would require the White House to begin planning for a variety of scenarios, including a drawdown of troops, following the receipt of a U.S. report on progress in Iraq.
The report by Lt. Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker is due Sept. 15. In a press conference yesterday, President Bush said he would not consider a withdrawal of troops until the report on Iraq's political and security progress was delivered.
The Lugar-Warner amendment was designed to give Democratic and Republican war skeptics alike something they could live with. If it survives both a Senate vote and presidential veto threat, it would require the president to present his post-September plans by Oct. 16. The administration must also be ready to implement the plans by the end of the year.
"The surge must not be an excuse for failing to prepare for the next phase of our involvement in Iraq, whether that is withdrawal, redeployment, or some other option," Lugar said on the Senate floor today. "We saw in 2003 after the initial invasion of Iraq, the disastrous results of failing to plan adequately for contingencies."
Both Lugar and Warner kept a tight lid on the amendment up until now. One surprising detail about the bill is that it nullifies Congress' 2002 authorization of force against Iraq, because "many of the conditions and motivations that existed when we authorized force... no longer exist or are irrelevant." The bill would require Bush to again request authorization for the war after the report is delivered.
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose position on the war has changed dramatically since she began her presidential campaign, is also submitting an amendment that repeals the 2002 AUMF. That bill would force Bush to request authorization to extend the war beyond Oct. 11, the vote's anniversary date.
But Lugar and Warner, former chairmen of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, respectively, are among the most influential senators on defense-related issues. Most Republicans who have criticized the war have not signed on to force Bush's hand on it. This bill only requires that the administration begin postgaming the current counterinsurgency strategy now, instead of in September.
"We want to avoid a drift in Iraq policy that continually references the next report or milestone, even as the fundamental conditions of our intervention in Iraq remain extremely problematic and hazardous," Lugar said. "A revision of the rationale for the use of force should be the occasion for a more forward looking Congressional debate."
The GOP leadership is forcing cloture votes on all the Democratic-sponsored Iraq amendments, which would be attached to a defense spending bill. The procedural strategy has already killed one high-profile Iraq amendment from Virginia's Jim Webb. The White House will likely object to the AUMF provision, but strong support from Republicans might compel the administration to stand down.
Warner and Lugar will be on "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" on Sunday to promote the amendment.
Posted at 3:53 PM
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Bush Administration, Congress, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Senate
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