First-Time Bipartisan Senate Push Against Iraq War

In an sign of growing bipartisan Senate impatience over the Iraq War, the Senate today voted 79 - 19 to require from the Bush Administration quarterly reports on the progress of the war, as well as progress of Iraqi ability to police their own nation. Iraqi self-sufficiency is considered by many to be a prerequisite for US troop withdrawal.

The amendment was proposed by Senator John Warner (D-VA), Chair of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.

Reports the New York Times, "Mr. Warner said afterward that he was 'very grateful' for the wide backing of his amendment, which he called 'forward looking' ...The message that Iraqis should take from the Senate action, Mr. Warner said, is that 'we have stood with you, we have done our part,' and now it is time for them to do theirs. He said 2006 would be a pivotal year for the campaign in Iraq."

Earlier, the Senate voted, 58 to 40, against a stricter measure offered by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) , the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, requiring that President Bush set a specific timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

Both the Warner and Levin amendments included the stern admonishment that "2006 should be a period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty, with Iraqi security forces taking the lead for the security of a free and sovereign Iraq, thereby creating the conditions for the phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq."

These two proposals, and the ensuing debates, are unusual for two reasons....

-- This is the first time that a bipartisan majority of the Senate has pushed the Bush Administration for more accountability and progress-reporting with an eye to US troop withdrawal from Iraq;

-- Congressional protocol has generally been to silence criticism of a President while travels overseas. Senatorial (and public) sentiments on the Iraq War are so strong, though, that protocol was ignored for the higher moral ground of openly addressing the issue, even while the President travels in Asia

In the strongest rebuke of the day to White House policy on Iraq, the bipartisan Warner amendment also directed "to explain to Congress and the American people its strategy for the successful completion of the mission in Iraq."
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Related Article -- Iraq War Results and Statistics as of October 2005
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