Democrats lose again on war bill
washington -- Capping a week of frustrating losses for critics of the war in Iraq, Senate Democrats fell 13 votes short Friday on a bill to order most U.S. troops home in nine months.
The measure, by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), fell on a 47-47 vote, the latest defeat for Democratic-led proposals; it needed 60 votes to advance. On Thursday, a proposal to cut off funding by June garnered only 28 votes. And on Wednesday, a proposal to require more leave time between deployments came up four votes short, 56 to 44.
Supporters of the war heralded the week’s developments. They see them as a sign that a recent report card from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, citing an improved security situation in Iraq, bolstered support among Republicans and bought military commanders some time.
“It would be a very overt rejection of Gen. Petraeus’ leadership” if the Senate ordered troops withdrawn, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
On Friday, three Republicans -- Sens. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, Gordon H. Smith of Oregon and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska -- voted with 44 Democrats for the Levin proposal. Voting with 43 Republicans to block the measure were Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) along with Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut. Nelson and Pryor said they were reluctant to second-guess military commanders on a date for withdrawal. Dodd, a presidential candidate, has said he favors a complete defunding of the war.
Most Democrats joined with Republicans on Thursday for a resolution condemning an ad in the New York Times by the antiwar group MoveOn.org that referred to Petraeus as “General Betray Us.” The Senate vote was 72 to 25.
--
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
