Washington – A measure calling for the phased withdrawal of American troops from Iraq died Thursday in the Senate. Republicans killed the Democratic amendment urging the Bush administration to begin the removal of U.S. forces by the end of 2006.
The amendment, co-sponsored by Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, was defeated 60-39, largely along partisan lines. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., voted against the measure.
A competing Democratic amendment offered by Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, requiring a complete U.S. pullout by July 1, 2007, fared poorly. It was defeated 86-13. Both Salazar and Allard voted against it.
The Senate debate and vote, following last week’s contentious debate in the House, suggests that the 2006 election may emerge as a referendum on the U.S. war in Iraq, with Republicans pledged to stay the course and Democrats favoring change.
Like the Congress, voters are split on how best to proceed, though polls show that a slim majority appears to support the idea of setting a timetable for withdrawal.
The Salazar-backed nonbinding amendment to a military authorization bill urged the White House to start bringing troops home by January, to adopt a schedule for further withdrawals next year and to convene an international summit conference on Iraq.
“It is the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government that have the responsibility for achieving success in Iraq,” Salazar told reporters after the vote. “Our resolution … sends that point home.
“They need to stand up on their own because the open-ended commitment and the blank- check policy from the United States of America toward Iraq will simply not work.”
Salazar was an original co-sponsor of the amendment, which won the support of all but six voting Democratic senators but only one Republican.
“It will probably not be the last time we address this issue,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who opposed both Democratic measures. He called the partisan disagreement over Iraq “the most consequential debate the Senate will engage in this year.”
“The Iraqi security forces are clearly unable to maintain security,” McCain said, and “more brave Americans will lose their lives.”
Americans must recognize that “it was the U.S. who led the war in Iraq, the U.S. who led the occupation,” he said. “Iraq is for us to … win or lose. … It is to us that history will look for courage and commitment.”
Democrats, however, said Iraqis have become dependent on the Bush administration’s open- ended military and economic support. The U.S., they said, needs to pressure Iraq’s government to take the necessary steps to heal religious and ethnic divisions and defuse the insurgency.
“It is up to them to seize the opportunity,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. “We have proven our credibility over 2,500 times because we lost 2,500 of our troops. We have proven our credibility 17,000 times in terms of the number of men and women wounded.”
Now it is time for Iraqis to prove their credibility, Levin said. “Do they want a civil war? Do they want to engage in more sectarian battles? Or do they want to reach the kind of political accommodations that must be made?”
And Democrats, citing the testimony of Gen. George W. Casey and other American military commanders, argued that the huge U.S. occupation is counterproductive and feeds resentment in Iraq.
“The large presence of American forces in Iraq contributes to the insurgency,” said Kerry. “Gen. Casey has said this war can’t be won militarily. The only way to do this is resolve the political problems that are fueling the insurgency.”
Speaking at the Pentagon Thursday, Casey said he disapproved of congressional efforts to set a timetable on troop withdrawal. “I don’t like it; I feel it would limit my flexibility,” he said.
Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Democrats offer “a shameless policy.” Like most Republican senators who spoke, Frist said the U.S. should stay in Iraq as long as necessary.
And McCain defended the commitment, if not the aptitude, of Iraq’s leaders. “They are serious,” he said, “they are just not capable.”
A U.S. withdrawal “would risk chaos in Iraq. And chaos in Iraq would mean disaster,” McCain said.
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