Collins: praises a new Gang of 14 (boo!), thanks Salazar and Alexander for bringing together a bipartisan group to call for enacting Iraq Study Group recommendations….also, she and Salazar are trying to form a middle group to make the President transition to a new strategy…move us away from combat operations to instead focus on counterterrorism, border security…forces the President to immediately transition to it, not after 120 days, not in September, next spring, but immediately…must be completed by March 31 of 2008…sets a mandatory requirement for the President to transition to a new strategy
Collins: hopes that tomorrow sees a dawn to a new strategy….wants a successful vote on the ISG recommendations….holds up book again…drones on again about who made up the ISG, blah blah blah…also hopes that the Collins/Salazar amendment gets adopted…
Collins yields the floor, now Senator Menendez (D-New Jersey)
Menendez: supports Levin/Reid amendment…thinks its well past time to now suggest that they adopt the ISG, should’ve done it last fall…tonight asking for vote…majority vote for a majority rule….same principal that has stood the test of time…reflect the reality of where the American public is at…there tonight because the people deserve an upperdownvote…Iraq most pressing issue of our day…fact that GOP leadership will not allow the Senate to have a simple majority vote speaks of obstructionism…procedural roadblocks put up so they don’t have to face the American people…..voted against the war in the first place…we have been vindicated by history….history will judge the votes they cast tomorrow…those who vote against the amendment will be judged harshly.
that was just a lame performance: her whole attitude seemed to be “don’t say anything they can use against me”, not that that’s surprising.
But still, it was so openly craven and caviling as to elicit a wretch in my stomach.
Menendez making good points about Webb amendment right now. However this “let us vote” sign is so whiney. you’re the freakin majority so take the bully plpit: don’t frame it like that. “Stop Dawdling” infantilizes them. “Get Out of the Way” marginalizes them.
Menedez: re: LIEberman…respects but vehemently disagrees with him…time to stop filibustering…need a simple majority vote that lets us change course in Iraq…a lonely minority want to stay the course…April and May deadliest two months of the war….450 billions now spent in Iraq…burn rate of 10 billion a month (obscene!)…surge price – were misled time and time again about costs of the war…talking about sectarian attacks…recent attacks deadliest since the war began…in terms of reconstruction, ie oil production, electricity in Baghdad, less than before the war…nothing being met
Menendez: regarding recent benchmark report that Bush is using as justification to stay in Iraq…thinks they are being misled…report didn’t say that 8 of the benchmarks are being met…rather that satisfactory progress has only been made of 8 out the whole benchmarks…lets be clear – none of the benchmarks are being met…wants to reiterate that to the President…fact is that zero out of 18 were met…this was after years, after moving the goalposts….President’s comments are more delusion and denial…giving litany of benchmarks that Bush said would be met, but weren’t
Menendez: AQ is operating in a safe zone along the Afghanistan and Pakistan border…clear that by shifting to Iraq, have taken eye off the ball…GOPers are parroting the same slogans, but it is we (Dems) who have been calling for OBL to be taken down…talking about how troops are truly supported…that old slogan that Dems are soft on defense – dog won’t hunt…attended a rally outside the capital with Iraqi veterans…no one has a greater ability to demand a change in policy…they hold the high ground in any debate…
Menendez: Iraqification of Afghanistan has happened….Afgh is leading world supplier of opium…instead of finishing the mission in Afghanistan the President took us to Iraq….WMD, Uranium from Niger, none of it true….held hostage by the President’s policies….no plans to win the peace nor succeed…President likes to invoke FDR, but he forgets that when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, FDR didn’t attack China…disastrous war policy – stay the course mentality…created a quagmire in Iraq…didn’t have AQ in Iraq before we invaded…now we are paying the price…maybe gut feeling from Chertoff is caused by knowing that OBL and AQ are thousands of miles away from Iraq….concluding by saying that the only role of Congress to provide a blank check is wrong….they have a responsibility to the men and women in uniform to do the right thing and stand up to the Presidents failed policy that they are given a mission worthy of their sacrifice.
It isn’t that late. Some of us will be up all night and it isn’t our job to read, debate, and pass legislation. (Hey, could somebody pay me to read the bills and find the sneaky bits and mark them for discussion?)
Reid should be able to get quorum calls met. And if he can’t, just roust out the Senators from under their desks and put a mug of coffee under their noses. Or smelling salts. Or ammonia inhalers if they look more than half dead.
I’m glad that Reid is doing this… and bet that over in Iraq there are troops watching and hoping for some sanity at last in the management of our overseas interests. If we wouldn’t send a garden club to quell genocide, or longshoremen to an economic summit, why are we sending soldiers to solve diplomatic crises?
Crazy Coburn: hardly ever speaks on the floor about issues like this (because he’s too busy being a nut wrt “social” issues)…find ourselves in a difficult position…surge is barely one month old because that was when the number was reached…question before us is what is the world really like today?…what is it that will change if we lose iraq, the consequences….LIEberman spoke eloquently about it (har!)…is reminded of the history of this country that we don’t walk away if we have a mess to let millions of people die or be displaced…doesn’t see it in the amendment…do we as a nation have a moral obligation regardless of the past not to let the displacement of iraqis…not to let Iran get control of Iraq as the basis of a persian empire again…blah blah…sees iraq as a cancer…lots wrong…at the point where we have to make tough choices as to whether the patient can be saved…concern is that because the treatment is tough…we’re going to let the patient die…doesn’t think the patient has to die (lordy, just pull the plug Dr. Coburn!)
Crazy Coburn: always controversy whenever we are in war…what is the best long term policy for our country in terms of stabilizing Middle East…what is our moral obligation given the fact that we invaded Iraq (get out!)…GOPers are not being armtwisted to support the policy (they are just as nuts as Bush!)…talking about kids of Senators being in Iraq – McCain and Webb…yet they have different views on the war therefore it’s hard to characterize…war is tearing at the fabric of our nation (that’s cuz you’re a bunch of warmongering freaks!)….
Harkin: It’s Vietnam again, and the Presidents’ spokespeople are insulting the intelligence of everyone in the world. The surge isn’t 2 weeks old, it’s six months, and 125 more Americans have died since it started.
“Patience is not a virtue in the face of a manifestly failed policy and there is no virtue in staying the course when the course drags you further into a geopolitical disaster.”
No benchmarks have been met yet. The Iraqis have failed again and again…
The only thing they’ve agreed on in parliament is that August is a vacation month.
Harkin again: No matter what the facts on the ground are, when Petraeus’ report comes out, Shrub will insist that it’s a good enough cause to stay for… ever.
Shrub will not ever change course until forced to by the Congress.
All we want is to vote. The shrubberies are obstructing and refuse to listen, learn, or consider a new direction. All we’re asking is “let us vote.”
The troops are professional and deserve our respect and our gratitude…
Thune: They’re coming to kill us all and I’m so afraid I’m about to pee my suit pants….
“We will not see the full effect of the surge until General Petraeus’ September Report” (ooh, that was a mistake. He just made Petraeus’ report a meaningful document.)
Another talking point repetition.
If I had any hair left this guy would be making it hurt.
Now he’s bringing up the same tired stuff about playing politics. Publicity stunt, bring up this debate in September, blah blah blah, al-Qaeda al-Qaeda al-Qaeda.
Maria Cantwell is up and is finally saying it’s time to change the course in Iraq. (She took a lot of heat in last year’s election campaign for trying to explain away her vote for AUMF rather than repudiating it.)
.
Oh Irony! Former Saddam loyalists in Anbar province are now our allies to fight the Al Qaeda led insurgency in the province. Another illustration Saddam and Al Qaeda weren’t congruous. These fighters are not Iraqi regular troops, but militants with US weapons and money with allegiance to local tribe leaders. The suspected The Sunni factions in Iraq are already supported with weapons and funds from their religious ally Saudi Arabia.
The political stalemate will continue because of the allegiance in the three regions of Kurds, Sunni and Shia seeking oil share and power. Senator Cantwell (D-Wa) just said the same in her statement on the Senate floor. “We are sending the wrong signal. Staying in Iraq in permanent bases. We are there to privatize Iraqi oil.” She also reminded the Senators of the Wolfowitz statements, Iraq oil would fund the war effort in the coming 2-3 years.
BAGHDAD (AFP) – The parliamentary bloc loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ended its boycott of the Iraqi legislature on Tuesday after quitting the assembly in June in protest at the bombing of a revered shrine.
“The Sadr party hereby announces that its suspension of membership (in parliament) has ended today,” the leader of the bloc, Nassar al-Rubaie, told AFP.
The movement’s 32 MPs walked out of parliament more than a month ago after a second bomb attack on a Shiite shrine in central Iraq, which Sadr blamed in part on the failure of Iraqi security forces to protect it.
… it is unclear how much bearing the move will have on crucial legislation such as the controversial oil law aimed at resolving the country’s myriad religious and ethnic conflicts.
The Sadr bloc has condemned the draft oil law aimed at equitably distributing the country’s oil revenues because it includes a clause that would allow foreign countries to drill under production-sharing agreements.
The government has met Sadr’s demands by agreeing to investigate both blasts, to secure the road to Samarra and to rebuild the site with “manpower from Islamic states,” Hassan al-Sinaid, an MP from Maliki’s Dawa party, said.
“The committee also must set up a timetable for reconstructing the shrines of Ghailani and Kholani in Baghdad and Talha Bin Abdullah in Basra,” Sinaid said, referring to three other bombed mosques.
After the June 13 attack on the Samarra shrine, the Baghdad government announced that the mausoleum would be rebuilt with the help of UNESCO.
But the mostly Sunni city of Samarra (Anbar province) is among the most dangerous in Iraq, and the 125-kilometre (78-mile) highway linking it to Baghdad is littered with unexploded roadside bombs, security officials say.
What have we (the Pentagon) done in planning troop withdrawal.
Continue a failed strategy without Congressional oversight?
By September we’ll have an inconclusive report and more casualties. There is no reason to wait.
I woke up long enough to see Hillary speak – what a disappointment. She had no plan to offer, only complaints about what Bush has done. I got no sense that she would order the troops out were she to become commander in chief. Is that why Murdoch supports her?
.
For the early arisers a cup of coffee … and some croissants.
The procedural vote is now completed: passed with 37 Y to 23 N. I have no idea what purpose, just to continue the debate? Quorum is present.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) places a word of welcome and congratulations to his Junior Senator Barrasso from the state of Wyoming.
Sen. John Kerry takes the floor and repeats the words of congratulations to Senator Barrasso and his representation of his constituents.
Kerry focuses on the substantial threat of Al Qaeda and has not diminished since 911. The chatter heard today is the same level heard by George Tenet and conveyed to the administration in July of 2001. Yet we know President Bush left for Crawford, Tx for the longest vacation of a presidential leader.
Our presence in Iraq fosters sectarian strife between Sunni and Shia. The dynamics hasn’t changed, everyday we’re putting our troops at risks to IED’s. We know the benchmarks won’t be met by a report in September.
The fundamentals of our surge strategy is flawed, we put in more troops while we know the politics won’t change due to the weakness of PM al-Maliki and a split parliament. The Iraqi politicians know they have an open-ended backing of President Bush because of his stubbornness he’ll stay the course.
We have empowered Iran, they love what we’re doing in Iraq.
I’m still up, so I shouldn’t drink the coffee, just sniff it appreciatively. However, that fresh flaky croissant with a touch of….
Do Senators get to work in their jammies when they pull all-nighters? Silk Charmeuse with rich paisley robe? Flannels with bunny slippers? (After “seersucker day”, I’m positive that their night-time wear would be fascinating and revealing.)
seem to be setting us up. Get ready for another “terrorist” strike.
Kerry focuses on the substantial threat of Al Qaeda and has not diminished since 911. The chatter heard today is the same level heard by George Tenet and conveyed to the administration in July of 2001. Yet we know President Bush left for Crawford, Tx for the longest vacation of a presidential leader.
Around 11am est there will be a cloture vote. If cloture fails, it’s filibuster time. Either the Repubs get tired of talking, or there will be a simple majority vote.
Harry Reid: A very human speech, from thanking the Capitol police, and custodians, to recognizing the will of the American People. Bring the Troops home.
It’s crunch time…let’s see where this goes now. Minutes to a vote.
Reid: Repubs chose to protect their president instead of the troops. We will not back down. We have no other choice.
Majority of the Senate supports Levin/Reed.
Request to move to vote.
I knew it was a sideshow when he called for the quorum vote at midnight, then said there wouldn’t be another one before 5am, and that he would agree to not hold anymore after that as “Senators have alot to do”
Can someone explain to me how this was any different from the other times there were less than 60 votes for cloture on an Iraq war amendment? It seems to me the outcome is exactly the same, just with a lot of talk beforehand.
The obstruction is still the same, except the lovely press has now characterized it as a democratic stunt. Am I missing something?
One more thing…I guess this does mean that Lugar, Voinovich, Warner, and Collins will no longer be able to pretend they’re breaking with the Preznit on his Iraq policy, but does anyone really think that will translate into more reps being willing to take steps to de-fund the war because they’ve given up on any of the Repugs suddenly finding some integrity?
. Sen. Joe Biden on Senate floor (in my ownwords): A Bush fulfilling prophecy: an independent group of insurgents and foreign fighters came into Iraq after the Bush invasion and are now by proclamation affiliated with Al Qaeda of Osama Bin Laden and Al Sawahri. Failed policy to deal with violence and sectarian strife after the statue of Saddam was pulled down.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) 180,000 contractors on the ground in Iraq, more than our own troops.
Sen. Edward Kennedy now on the floor with an amendment on Higher Education (passed in Commission 17-3). I guess the Iraq debate is ended and over to the routine of a normal day.
Collins: praises a new Gang of 14 (boo!), thanks Salazar and Alexander for bringing together a bipartisan group to call for enacting Iraq Study Group recommendations….also, she and Salazar are trying to form a middle group to make the President transition to a new strategy…move us away from combat operations to instead focus on counterterrorism, border security…forces the President to immediately transition to it, not after 120 days, not in September, next spring, but immediately…must be completed by March 31 of 2008…sets a mandatory requirement for the President to transition to a new strategy
(and when he vetoes that)
Stay the Course…A Plan Victory; the sad thing is the Republican Senators–Collins– just don’t understand W doesn’t really care about their opinions.
Any Pictures of the Senators Sleeping yet its 11:21 EST.
Collins: hopes that tomorrow sees a dawn to a new strategy….wants a successful vote on the ISG recommendations….holds up book again…drones on again about who made up the ISG, blah blah blah…also hopes that the Collins/Salazar amendment gets adopted…
Collins yields the floor, now Senator Menendez (D-New Jersey)
I like that Sen. Menendez said if the ISG had been adopted last year they wouldn’t be here tonight.
Menendez: supports Levin/Reid amendment…thinks its well past time to now suggest that they adopt the ISG, should’ve done it last fall…tonight asking for vote…majority vote for a majority rule….same principal that has stood the test of time…reflect the reality of where the American public is at…there tonight because the people deserve an upperdownvote…Iraq most pressing issue of our day…fact that GOP leadership will not allow the Senate to have a simple majority vote speaks of obstructionism…procedural roadblocks put up so they don’t have to face the American people…..voted against the war in the first place…we have been vindicated by history….history will judge the votes they cast tomorrow…those who vote against the amendment will be judged harshly.
that was just a lame performance: her whole attitude seemed to be “don’t say anything they can use against me”, not that that’s surprising.
But still, it was so openly craven and caviling as to elicit a wretch in my stomach.
Menendez making good points about Webb amendment right now. However this “let us vote” sign is so whiney. you’re the freakin majority so take the bully plpit: don’t frame it like that. “Stop Dawdling” infantilizes them. “Get Out of the Way” marginalizes them.
Good hit on Lieberman…
Menedez: re: LIEberman…respects but vehemently disagrees with him…time to stop filibustering…need a simple majority vote that lets us change course in Iraq…a lonely minority want to stay the course…April and May deadliest two months of the war….450 billions now spent in Iraq…burn rate of 10 billion a month (obscene!)…surge price – were misled time and time again about costs of the war…talking about sectarian attacks…recent attacks deadliest since the war began…in terms of reconstruction, ie oil production, electricity in Baghdad, less than before the war…nothing being met
Menendez: regarding recent benchmark report that Bush is using as justification to stay in Iraq…thinks they are being misled…report didn’t say that 8 of the benchmarks are being met…rather that satisfactory progress has only been made of 8 out the whole benchmarks…lets be clear – none of the benchmarks are being met…wants to reiterate that to the President…fact is that zero out of 18 were met…this was after years, after moving the goalposts….President’s comments are more delusion and denial…giving litany of benchmarks that Bush said would be met, but weren’t
Menendez: AQ is operating in a safe zone along the Afghanistan and Pakistan border…clear that by shifting to Iraq, have taken eye off the ball…GOPers are parroting the same slogans, but it is we (Dems) who have been calling for OBL to be taken down…talking about how troops are truly supported…that old slogan that Dems are soft on defense – dog won’t hunt…attended a rally outside the capital with Iraqi veterans…no one has a greater ability to demand a change in policy…they hold the high ground in any debate…
Menendez: Iraqification of Afghanistan has happened….Afgh is leading world supplier of opium…instead of finishing the mission in Afghanistan the President took us to Iraq….WMD, Uranium from Niger, none of it true….held hostage by the President’s policies….no plans to win the peace nor succeed…President likes to invoke FDR, but he forgets that when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, FDR didn’t attack China…disastrous war policy – stay the course mentality…created a quagmire in Iraq…didn’t have AQ in Iraq before we invaded…now we are paying the price…maybe gut feeling from Chertoff is caused by knowing that OBL and AQ are thousands of miles away from Iraq….concluding by saying that the only role of Congress to provide a blank check is wrong….they have a responsibility to the men and women in uniform to do the right thing and stand up to the Presidents failed policy that they are given a mission worthy of their sacrifice.
Break time! brb
Reid: quorum call to get 51 senators to the floor (heh)
okay, really taking a break now
It isn’t that late. Some of us will be up all night and it isn’t our job to read, debate, and pass legislation. (Hey, could somebody pay me to read the bills and find the sneaky bits and mark them for discussion?)
Reid should be able to get quorum calls met. And if he can’t, just roust out the Senators from under their desks and put a mug of coffee under their noses. Or smelling salts. Or ammonia inhalers if they look more than half dead.
I’m glad that Reid is doing this… and bet that over in Iraq there are troops watching and hoping for some sanity at last in the management of our overseas interests. If we wouldn’t send a garden club to quell genocide, or longshoremen to an economic summit, why are we sending soldiers to solve diplomatic crises?
Had to go get my hair cut for a job interview on Thursday.
Georgia has a Senator Isakson? who knew? More talking points about not supporting the troops….don’t let them have died in vain…blah blah blah
Akaka of Hawaii is up (missed most of this) – time to bring our loved ones home…
Crazy Coburn is up now (R-Oklahoma)
Crazy Coburn: hardly ever speaks on the floor about issues like this (because he’s too busy being a nut wrt “social” issues)…find ourselves in a difficult position…surge is barely one month old because that was when the number was reached…question before us is what is the world really like today?…what is it that will change if we lose iraq, the consequences….LIEberman spoke eloquently about it (har!)…is reminded of the history of this country that we don’t walk away if we have a mess to let millions of people die or be displaced…doesn’t see it in the amendment…do we as a nation have a moral obligation regardless of the past not to let the displacement of iraqis…not to let Iran get control of Iraq as the basis of a persian empire again…blah blah…sees iraq as a cancer…lots wrong…at the point where we have to make tough choices as to whether the patient can be saved…concern is that because the treatment is tough…we’re going to let the patient die…doesn’t think the patient has to die (lordy, just pull the plug Dr. Coburn!)
Crazy Coburn: always controversy whenever we are in war…what is the best long term policy for our country in terms of stabilizing Middle East…what is our moral obligation given the fact that we invaded Iraq (get out!)…GOPers are not being armtwisted to support the policy (they are just as nuts as Bush!)…talking about kids of Senators being in Iraq – McCain and Webb…yet they have different views on the war therefore it’s hard to characterize…war is tearing at the fabric of our nation (that’s cuz you’re a bunch of warmongering freaks!)….
my fingers hurt, and my ears too. Coburn’s complaining that they are debating Iraq instead of “oversighting” the government (is that a word?)
That made me laugh too a Republican saying “government and oversight” oversight in the same sentence.
“I took an oath to uphold the Constitution”
Remember that when impeachment rolls around, Bunky.
And what do Republicans know about being a “reliable” partner?..is Senator Vitter near the chamber.
Harkin: It’s Vietnam again, and the Presidents’ spokespeople are insulting the intelligence of everyone in the world. The surge isn’t 2 weeks old, it’s six months, and 125 more Americans have died since it started.
“Patience is not a virtue in the face of a manifestly failed policy and there is no virtue in staying the course when the course drags you further into a geopolitical disaster.”
No benchmarks have been met yet. The Iraqis have failed again and again…
The only thing they’ve agreed on in parliament is that August is a vacation month.
Enough with the patience thing.
Harkin again: No matter what the facts on the ground are, when Petraeus’ report comes out, Shrub will insist that it’s a good enough cause to stay for… ever.
Shrub will not ever change course until forced to by the Congress.
All we want is to vote. The shrubberies are obstructing and refuse to listen, learn, or consider a new direction. All we’re asking is “let us vote.”
The troops are professional and deserve our respect and our gratitude…
reading emails from service families in Iowa…
Harkin: Why do Bush and the Republicans hate the troops?
Letter to Harkin: If the majority of the people don’t want the war, why won’t the president listen? Does he not care?
They’re from ordinary Iowans who can’t understand why their loved ones can’t come home.
Oh, I get the sense that these good folks understand full well why.
They just can’t in conscience accept the reality of the answer.
Thune, R-SDak –
Those lousy Dems are holding up money for the stuff they said they wanted for the troops…
blah blah blah good v. evil, islam vs. freedom, everyone who is not a republican is a rabid AQ killer….
“Somehow Afghanistan is a good war and Iraq is a bad war, because we aren’t seeing casualties in Afghanistan.”
I call bullshit. Afghanistan is where al-Qaeda lives. Iraq is a sideshow and a quagmire.
Thune: They’re coming to kill us all and I’m so afraid I’m about to pee my suit pants….
“We will not see the full effect of the surge until General Petraeus’ September Report” (ooh, that was a mistake. He just made Petraeus’ report a meaningful document.)
Another talking point repetition.
If I had any hair left this guy would be making it hurt.
Thune: The dems are politicising the war on Terra.
Me: that sumbitch owes me a new keyboard.
Now he’s bringing up the same tired stuff about playing politics. Publicity stunt, bring up this debate in September, blah blah blah, al-Qaeda al-Qaeda al-Qaeda.
Maria Cantwell is up and is finally saying it’s time to change the course in Iraq. (She took a lot of heat in last year’s election campaign for trying to explain away her vote for AUMF rather than repudiating it.)
.
Oh Irony! Former Saddam loyalists in Anbar province are now our allies to fight the Al Qaeda led insurgency in the province. Another illustration Saddam and Al Qaeda weren’t congruous. These fighters are not Iraqi regular troops, but militants with US weapons and money with allegiance to local tribe leaders. The suspected The Sunni factions in Iraq are already supported with weapons and funds from their religious ally Saudi Arabia.
The Anbar Salvation Front (referred to by Iraqi sources as the Abu Risha group, using the tribal name of the group’s principal leader, Abd al-Sattar Abu Risha), uses harsh measures against its captured enemies, Slogger sources report.
The group does not hand over captured al-Qa’ida suspects to the Iraqi police or even to the US military. When a group has concluded that any captive works with the al-Qa’ida militias, the suspect is executed with a bullet to the head.
The political stalemate will continue because of the allegiance in the three regions of Kurds, Sunni and Shia seeking oil share and power. Senator Cantwell (D-Wa) just said the same in her statement on the Senate floor. “We are sending the wrong signal. Staying in Iraq in permanent bases. We are there to privatize Iraqi oil.” She also reminded the Senators of the Wolfowitz statements, Iraq oil would fund the war effort in the coming 2-3 years.
BAGHDAD (AFP) – The parliamentary bloc loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ended its boycott of the Iraqi legislature on Tuesday after quitting the assembly in June in protest at the bombing of a revered shrine.
“The Sadr party hereby announces that its suspension of membership (in parliament) has ended today,” the leader of the bloc, Nassar al-Rubaie, told AFP.
The movement’s 32 MPs walked out of parliament more than a month ago after a second bomb attack on a Shiite shrine in central Iraq, which Sadr blamed in part on the failure of Iraqi security forces to protect it.
… it is unclear how much bearing the move will have on crucial legislation such as the controversial oil law aimed at resolving the country’s myriad religious and ethnic conflicts.
The Sadr bloc has condemned the draft oil law aimed at equitably distributing the country’s oil revenues because it includes a clause that would allow foreign countries to drill under production-sharing agreements.
The government has met Sadr’s demands by agreeing to investigate both blasts, to secure the road to Samarra and to rebuild the site with “manpower from Islamic states,” Hassan al-Sinaid, an MP from Maliki’s Dawa party, said.
“The committee also must set up a timetable for reconstructing the shrines of Ghailani and Kholani in Baghdad and Talha Bin Abdullah in Basra,” Sinaid said, referring to three other bombed mosques.
After the June 13 attack on the Samarra shrine, the Baghdad government announced that the mausoleum would be rebuilt with the help of UNESCO.
But the mostly Sunni city of Samarra (Anbar province) is among the most dangerous in Iraq, and the 125-kilometre (78-mile) highway linking it to Baghdad is littered with unexploded roadside bombs, security officials say.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
08:54AM GMT
Hillary Clinton now speaking of Bush failure on international diplomacy not only in Iraq, but also with the I/P issue and the rise of Hamas.
What have we (the Pentagon) done in planning troop withdrawal.
Continue a failed strategy without Congressional oversight?
By September we’ll have an inconclusive report and more casualties. There is no reason to wait.
Order next speakers: Coleman – Casey – …
C-SPAN2
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I woke up long enough to see Hillary speak – what a disappointment. She had no plan to offer, only complaints about what Bush has done. I got no sense that she would order the troops out were she to become commander in chief. Is that why Murdoch supports her?
.
11:11 AM EST
Barrasso (R-WY) finished his maiden speech on the Senate floor.
Majority leader Reid called for the procedural vote to call the Senators to the floor … a slow process.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
For the early arisers a cup of coffee … and some croissants.
The procedural vote is now completed: passed with 37 Y to 23 N. I have no idea what purpose, just to continue the debate? Quorum is present.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) places a word of welcome and congratulations to his Junior Senator Barrasso from the state of Wyoming.
Sen. John Kerry takes the floor and repeats the words of congratulations to Senator Barrasso and his representation of his constituents.
Kerry focuses on the substantial threat of Al Qaeda and has not diminished since 911. The chatter heard today is the same level heard by George Tenet and conveyed to the administration in July of 2001. Yet we know President Bush left for Crawford, Tx for the longest vacation of a presidential leader.
Our presence in Iraq fosters sectarian strife between Sunni and Shia. The dynamics hasn’t changed, everyday we’re putting our troops at risks to IED’s. We know the benchmarks won’t be met by a report in September.
The fundamentals of our surge strategy is flawed, we put in more troops while we know the politics won’t change due to the weakness of PM al-Maliki and a split parliament. The Iraqi politicians know they have an open-ended backing of President Bush because of his stubbornness he’ll stay the course.
We have empowered Iran, they love what we’re doing in Iraq.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Please email a croissant to California.
I’m still up, so I shouldn’t drink the coffee, just sniff it appreciatively. However, that fresh flaky croissant with a touch of….
Do Senators get to work in their jammies when they pull all-nighters? Silk Charmeuse with rich paisley robe? Flannels with bunny slippers? (After “seersucker day”, I’m positive that their night-time wear would be fascinating and revealing.)
I ought to add, that I’m wearing navy flannel jammies with Bentley’s snowflakes on them.
http://snowflakebentley.com/
The only thing they would reveal is my artistic taste (REAL snowflakes, not a snow job) and wry humor.
Meanwhile, if it is going to be a hot day wherever you are… or if tempers as well as temperatures are rising… think snow!
seem to be setting us up. Get ready for another “terrorist” strike.
Anybody know what Reid’s intention is about how long to let this go on and what he is going to do if there is a vote on cloture?
Around 11am est there will be a cloture vote. If cloture fails, it’s filibuster time. Either the Repubs get tired of talking, or there will be a simple majority vote.
My english ain’t right yet this am.
IF the repubs stop talking, after a failed cloture, a simple majority vote will occur.
Thanks.
McConnell: Keep killing.
Harry Reid: A very human speech, from thanking the Capitol police, and custodians, to recognizing the will of the American People. Bring the Troops home.
It’s crunch time…let’s see where this goes now. Minutes to a vote.
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now taking place on Senate floor. C-SPAN2
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Cloture fails, 52-48.
Reid is making the predictable speech, recapping everything said to date.
Let the filibuster begin….
Reid: Repubs chose to protect their president instead of the troops. We will not back down. We have no other choice.
Majority of the Senate supports Levin/Reed.
Request to move to vote.
Looks like no filibuster…Reid places Finance bill on “temporary” hold.
So Reid caved and it was all political theatre after all. What a load of crap.
I knew it was a sideshow when he called for the quorum vote at midnight, then said there wouldn’t be another one before 5am, and that he would agree to not hold anymore after that as “Senators have alot to do”
sigh…
Can someone explain to me how this was any different from the other times there were less than 60 votes for cloture on an Iraq war amendment? It seems to me the outcome is exactly the same, just with a lot of talk beforehand.
The obstruction is still the same, except the lovely press has now characterized it as a democratic stunt. Am I missing something?
One more thing…I guess this does mean that Lugar, Voinovich, Warner, and Collins will no longer be able to pretend they’re breaking with the Preznit on his Iraq policy, but does anyone really think that will translate into more reps being willing to take steps to de-fund the war because they’ve given up on any of the Repugs suddenly finding some integrity?
Collins caved, which is unfortunate because it makes it harder to beat her next year.
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Sen. Joe Biden on Senate floor (in my ownwords):
A Bush fulfilling prophecy: an independent group of insurgents and foreign fighters came into Iraq after the Bush invasion and are now by proclamation affiliated with Al Qaeda of Osama Bin Laden and Al Sawahri. Failed policy to deal with violence and sectarian strife after the statue of Saddam was pulled down.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) 180,000 contractors on the ground in Iraq, more than our own troops.
Sen. Edward Kennedy now on the floor with an amendment on Higher Education (passed in Commission 17-3). I guess the Iraq debate is ended and over to the routine of a normal day.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."