Why Iraq Debate in Senate Right Now?

The Democrat lead United States Senate has set aside this week and next to debate the Iraq War and try to figure out a way to make sure we lose.

It has been asked, why must they do this now? Why don't they wait until September when General Petraeus reports to the President and Congress on the effects of the surge and his outlook on the situation in Iraq?

I think the answer to those questions are found in the Senate calendar. The Senate is in recess from August 6 to September 3, 2007. If they don't do this now, in July, when the Senate reconvenes in September it might be too late. If General Petraeus reports that the surge is effective and his outlook positive, the democrats could have their legs cut out from under their defeat plans. That's why they have to have their defeat plan in place before the August recess.

Despite Harry Reid's best efforts, the democrat surrender plans may not work.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007, saw two amendments (S. Amdt. 2012 and S. Amdt 2032) to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R.1585) go down in defeat. Both amendments would have set limits constraining Department of Defense and the Commander in Chief in deploying troops to Iraq.

If they can't get amendments passed limiting deployment lengths or dictating time between deployments, it could be they will not be able get anything passed dictating a withdrawal mandate.

The only way the anti-war caucus in the Senate can be sure to get the defeat they seek is to cut the funding for the war. That is clearly in their Constitutional bounds. Except the democrats won't do that, as that will put our defeat in Iraq squarely on the democrats shoulders and they don't want that.

Note: On S. Amdt 2032 the roll call vote was 52 Yeas to 43 Nays. Roll Call vote summary for the amendment indicates it was rejected despite the vote. The summary does not show it was a cloture vote. I'm not sure what is going on with that, unless it was brought to the floor under some special rule requiring sixty votes for acceptance.