It's day 1763 since mission accomplish was declared. 150,000 American lives are still at risk in Iraq. The escalation did nothing to spur the Iraqi government to actually begin to govern. We're no better off in Iraq than we were in February of 2007, of 2006, 2005, or 2004. The Republicans in the Senate have decided that this is a debate they want to have, that they can win on.
So today, when Sen. Feingold's bill to set a withdrawal date for getting our troops out of Iraq, the Republicans decided that they should give up their filibuster, and have the debate. Because they are somehow under the impression that they'll win it, despite the fact that 65% of the American population think the way this war has been handled is a disaster, and 54% say it's going badly.
(Translation for the poll-reading impaired Republicans: that means that the majority of Americans don't believe that the escalation worked.)
Senate Dems are ready to have this discussion for the next day and a half. Why? Because the Republicans continue to say things like this:
Speaking about a Democratic proposal to force Iraq troop withdrawal within 120 days, Hutchison said Tuesday that such a proposal would "put a bullet right in the hearts of our troops who are there."
....[H]er choice of words made it sound like Democrats were advocating something that would kill U.S. troops, and it didn't go over well with Democratic leaders.
"Poor choice of words from a senator who voted against providing our troops with the body armor needed to stop bullets in the first place," said Rodell Mollineau, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
Poor choice of words indeed. Hutchinson and her rubberstamping Senate colleagues are on the losing side of this argument. Sen. Feingold explains why (watch it here):
Every year, I hold town hall meetings in each of the 72 counties of Wisconsin, and over the January recess I held some 20 meetings in some of the most conservative parts of the state. I didn’t bring up Iraq at those January meetings because I wanted to see whether it was still a major concern, particularly with these audiences. And guess what – in every single meeting, they brought it up with me. And they didn’t just bring it up – they asked what we are doing to bring home the troops. But I had to tell them that, instead of getting out of Iraq, we will likely be sending one third of the members of the Wisconsin National Guard back to Iraq next year, many of whom have served within the last two or three years. They will be torn from their family, their jobs, their communities, to be put in harm’s way, all in order to create space for a political reconciliation in Iraq that is always just over the horizon. They will not be there to protect the people of Wisconsin in the event of an emergency, nor will they be reinforcing our troops in Afghanistan, who face what one recent report described as a "stalemate" in fighting al Qaeda’s ally, the Taliban. Like Americans all across the country, the people of Wisconsin don’t think this makes sense. They want an end to our involvement in this war in Iraq, and they want to know what’s stopping us from making it happen.
Sen. Reid adds
"During the long recess last week in Nevada, people all across the state told me that they are as committed as ever to ending the war in Iraq. They are long past ready to end the worst foreign policy blunder in our nation’s history.
"What has five years of war brought to America, the Middle East and the world? Thousands of deaths. A trillion in debt. A catastrophic failure of diplomacy. My Republican colleagues: Think what this war has done to our nation’s fiscal soundness. It has destroyed it.
"Soon $1 trillion borrowed, with the likely Republican nominee for President saying we may need to be in Iraq for another 100 years. We are nearing the tragic milestone of 4,000 American troop deaths. Thirty-thousand wounded, many gravely – amputations, blindness, hearing loss and untold thousands with head trauma, making life after war most difficult.
"This week brings news from the Pentagon that there will be 140,000 American troops in Iraq in July, 8,000 more than when the surge began in January 2007....
"As the war in Iraq rages, bin Laden remains free and his terrorist network is gaining power worldwide. This legislation will shine the spotlight on this unmet challenge of fighting terrorism and keeping our country safe. Today, tomorrow, and beyond, I urge my colleagues to seek common ground toward a new American foreign policy that strengthens our security, supports our troops and begins to restore our nation’s ability to lead once again."
So yes, Senate Republicans, let's keep talking about Iraq. Make sure that Sen. McCain is there with you to state from the Senate floor that it's fine by him if the United States is in Iraq for a hundred years. The American people need to see that.