As Senate Republicans... especially the 21 up for reelection in 2008... continue to wail and whine about having to vote next week on the non-binding resolution that formally condemns the Bush Administration's escalation of the Iraq War, Kos of DailyKos unearths a 1993 statement by none other than Sen. John McCain (D-AZ) in which the senator loudly proclaims that the Congress, not just the President, has the right to withdraw U.S. troops from conflicts:

"There is no reason for the United States of America to remain in Somalia. The American people want them home, I believe the majority of Congress wants them home...

And if we do not do that and other Americans die, other Americans are wounded, other Americans are captured because we stay too long--longer than necessary--then I would say that the responsibilities for that lie with the Congress of the United States who did not exercise their authority under the Constitution of the United States and mandate that they be brought home quickly and safely as possible... "

Republican Sen. McCain's 1993 claim of Congressional powers, of course, is just the opposite of Republican arguments today.

As Kos observes, "Note how unambiguous McCain was when it suited his partisan purposes. He clearly states that the Congress has 'authority under the Constitution of the United States' to bring home the troops if it so declares."

So much for Republican phony hot air in 2007...

Republicans: Americans deserve to know where you stand on the Iraq War.

Democrats on the Iraq War
While almost all Senate Democrats will vote to support Senate Resolution S.CON.RES.2 on the Iraq War Policy, this moment in history is equally revealing of the wisdom and courage (or lack thereof) of various Democrats.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), who removed his name from the 2008 presidential race, is pushing hard to use "the power of the purse to put an end to our involvement in the war in Iraq."

Consistently a courageous, principled leader, Sen. Feingold beseeches, "Congress must not allow the president to continue or escalate a war that has already come at such a terrible cost."

And yesterday, in what some termed as a "risky" move for a 2008 presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007, formal legislation with a specific plan to "begin a phased redeployment of U.S. forces with the goal of removing of all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by March 31st, 2008."

In an email yesterday, Sen. Obama wrote:

"The redeployment of troops to the United States , Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region would begin no later than May 1st of this year, toward the end of the timeframe I first proposed in a speech more than two months ago.

In a civil war where no military solution exists, this redeployment remains our best leverage to pressure the Iraqi government to achieve the political settlement between its warring factions that can slow the bloodshed and promote stability.

The U.S. military has performed valiantly and brilliantly in Iraq . Our troops have done all we have asked them to do and more. But no amount of American soldiers can solve the political differences at the heart of somebody else's civil war, nor settle the grievances in the hearts of the combatants."

Sen. Obama is the only major 2008 presidential candidate who had the foresight and leadership to oppose the Iraq War in 2002, and has consistently opposed it since then.

Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), the supposed 2008 Democratic frontrunner, nonsensically continues to obfuscate on the Iraq War.

On C-SPAN this past weekend, I closely watched Sen. Clinton's campaign trail appearances in battleground Iowa. When asked direct questions about Iraq, she tap-danced around the issue and even blatantly changed the subject.

I continue to stand by my December 18, 2006 statement:

"I predict that Senator Clinton's intentionally vague stances on the various Iraq War viewpoints... ranging from U.S. troop withdrawal to sending more U.S. troops to that decimated, war-torn country... will cost her the 2008 Democratic nomination for the presidency."

Sen. Clinton, I have the same reminder for you as I do for Republicans: Americans deserve to know where you stand on the Iraq War.

Recommended Reading
Iraq War Statistics & Results as of January 28, 2007
Barack Obama's Stirring 2002 Speech Against the Iraq War
Text of Jan 2007 Senate Resolution S.CON.RES.2 on Iraq War Policy

Related Reading
Kathy Gill (US Political Current Events), Jan 30, 2007: Hurrah for Feingold
Robert Longley (US Gov't Info), Jan 25, 2007: Can Congress End the Iraq War?
DailyKos, Jan 30, 2007: Feingold, Obama, and Senate Republicans
Sen. Russ Feingold, Jan 11, 2007: Use the Power of the Purse