Kossacks are rightly paying a lot of attention to what must surely qualify as the most critical issue of the moment: the march to war with Iran. You're read how the Secretary of State is trying to
bribe governments to use their airspace for an attack. You've been pointed to
Steve Clemons' warnings of imminent war. And you've digested Juan Cole's
passionate plea to rise up against this impending war.
What are the Democrats doing to stop this madness?
Many are rushing to join the insanity. Last week, the
House voted 297-21 (Correction: 397-21) in favor of the Iran Freedom Support Act that Dennis Kucinich describes as a "stepping stone to war." But wait, you say, our heroes in the Senate, working with a few sane Republicans, won't allow us to fall into the same, step-by-step march to war took place in 2002-03.
Well, you'd be wrong. Rick Santorum has introduced a similar version of the Orwellian named Iran Freedom Support Act in the Senate and its chances of passage look pretty good.
It has 58 (fifty-eight) (FIFTY-EIGHT) cosponsors. Judging from the numbers, there must be a few Democrats on that list. Here they are:
Akaka (HI)
Baucus (MT)
Bayh (IN)
Boxer (CA)
Cantwell (WA)
Conrad (ND)
Corzine (NJ) (Correction: name on the bill, man in the guv's mansion in NJ)
Dayton (MN)
Dorgan (ND)
Durbin (IL)
Feinstein (CA)
Johnson (SC)
Kohl (WI)
Landrieu (LA)
Levin (MI)
Lieberman (CT)
Lincoln (AR)
Mikulski (MD)
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Stabenow (MI)
Congressman Ron Paul likened the House version of the IFSA to the Iraq Liberation Act that was used by the Bush administration as one of the justifications for the Iraq war (it appears as a "whereas" in the war resolution). The neocons have used it repeatedly since to chastise Democrats who begin to voice opposition to that war.
If you find Juan Cole's passion justified as the signs become clearer and clearer that the Bush administration intends to go to war against Iran, then shouldn't you be asking these Democrats how they can cosponsor a bill that the Bush administration will surely use as one of its excuses for spraying gasoline on a fire they themselves first lit? Democrats in Congress should be occupied with passing a joint resolution demanding the Bush administration pursue genuine diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement with Iran and forswearing the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances rather than supporting yet another piece of legislation that the Bush administration will use as cover for its war-mongering.
UPDATE:
For a deja vu experience,
check out the section of the bill aimed at "promoting democracy," i.e. regime change.
SECOND UPDATE
Some commenters have asserted the bill in question is old and dead. Commenter drsmith131 has pointed to this press release about the
current status of Santorum's bill:
Washington DC, April 28, 2006 - The Senate continued debate on the $106.5 billion war and hurricane relief supplemental spending measure this week, as members attempted furiously to introduce and vote on dozens of amendments that were germane to neither the War on Terror nor hurricane recovery expenditures. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) introduced the Iran Freedom Support Act (S. 333) as an amendment (#3640) to the supplemental, in order to circumvent the difficulties the bill is facing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Both Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Richard Lugar (R-IN) and the White House have reservations about the bill.
But the passing of the House version of the Act yesterday has given the senate bill renewed momentum. In the amendment to the supplemental, Santorum also called for an additional $25 million to the $75 million already included in the bill for Iran democracy promotion activities.
$12.5 million of the additional money would have to be given to political dissidents inside Iran, the amendment stipulates.
Furthermore, in contrast to the House version, the amendment calls for the appointment of “a special assistant to the President on matters relating to Iran.” Critics argue that this measure could take the Iran dossier away from the State Department and hand it to hard line officials close to the Vice President’s office.
The effort to attach S.333’s language to the supplemental is likely driven by the belief that Santorum has enough floor votes to guarantee the proposal’s passage using the supplemental as a vehicle for bypassing committee consideration.