As the debate unfolded in the Senate yesterday, it was hard not to notice the disconnect between this week and the months leading up to it. We’ve heard, repeatedly, that everything would change in September. Republicans had grown weary of supporting a policy that doesn’t work. The GOP was this close to breaking ranks and forcing the president’s hand. There was a time limit on how long White House allies on the Hill could ignore the will of the nation.
But all of that turned out to be completely wrong. Of all the Democratic efforts to change the U.S. policy on Iraq, Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-Va.) amendment was the least controversial. It would have forced the administration to give the troops as much time at home as they spent in combat, which the nation has historically done. The measure had the support of a majority in the House, a majority in the Senate, and the endorsement of veterans’ organizations. If congressional Republicans were going use their power to support any kind of policy change, this was it.
Senate Republicans yesterday rejected a bipartisan proposal to lengthen the home leaves of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, derailing a measure that war opponents viewed as one of the best chances to force President Bush to accelerate a redeployment of forces.
The proposal, sponsored by Sens. James Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), failed on a 56 to 44 vote, with 60 votes needed for passage — a tally that was virtually identical to a previous vote in July.
That last point seems particularly significant. The most palatable Democratic policy proposal not only couldn’t get an up-or-down vote, it also did no better than it did in July. It’s a vivid reminder that Senate Republicans won’t support (or allow votes on) any substantive changes to the administration’s policy at all.
The WaPo added that the vote was evidence “that the Bush administration still controls Iraq war policy.” I think that’s true, but it’s only because congressional Republicans allow Bush to control the policy. As Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who helped lead the way in killing the Webb amendment, told the NYT, “The Republicans own this war.”
The full roll call is here. You’ll notice, of course, that Dems didn’t pick up a single Republican vote from July.
Two other quick angles to consider here. First, several news outlets are badly mischaracterizing what transpired yesterday. The LA Times’ headline reads, “Senate Democrats fail to limit combat time.” That’s wildly misleading — it makes it seem as if the main thing to remember is that Dems “failed” to help the troops. In reality, the story should be about Republicans obstructing the Dems’ efforts.
And second, I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), who is also the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who went to the Senate floor yesterday to speak out against the Webb amendment because, he argued, giving the troops longer breaks at home would “demean their service.”
“The reenlistment rates of those who have served in the theater are larger than those of any other. And, in fact, it is a testament to their courage, to their valor, and their sense of duty to their country. I think we would demean their service if we were to say to them that there had to be a parity between the time in service out of the country and the time at home. The goal ought to be for us not to have 15-month deployments. The hope would be that these would never be necessary. But the mandate from congress that this is how we must operate our armed forces I think is ill-conceived, it is dangerous and does not serve either the national interest of our nation nor the interest of the soldiers on the field whom it is intended to serve.
“We should not have a subterfuge of policy to change direction in Iraq heaped on the back of our brave young men and women in uniform…”
As Greg Sargent explained, “The argument here appears to be that because the amount of service our troops have performed shows that they are heroic, it would hence ‘demean’ them to reduce that amount of service by giving them longer rest time — because it would deprive them of more time to be heroic.”
Then, after the GOP successfully blocked the Webb measure, Martinez voted for another resolution endorsing the goals of the Webb amendment, just so long as it’s non-binding on the Bush administration.
When people wonder why Dems find it difficult to take Republicans seriously on Iraq policy, this should be a big hint.