The Republican War

The Republicans have tried to paint the Iraq conflict as a bipartisan fiasco. They point out that many Democratic senators and congressmen voted for the resolution to give Bush the authority to potentially attack Iraq after consultation with the UN. That he lied to them about WMDs, and that he went to war despite a lack of the support from the UN does not temper their arguments.

So when the bipartisan Iraq Study Group came out with its report, and a way out of the quagmire, and Bush chose to ignore it, the war became Bush's war.

And it looked as though it would remain Bush's war. But the Senate Republicans, many of whom have been speaking against the war recently, today made the war a Republican war. How? By voting against debating the "Surge". They voted against allowing debate to proceed on the non-binding resolution, even Hagel and Collins, and all the "anti-war" republicans. Republicans are so far gone on the issue, that Warner and Hagel voted to prevent debate on their own resolution. (60 votes are needed to proceed with the debate under Senate rules on the issue.)

Not a single Democrat voted with them*.

So there. Republicans, we tried to give you an out, but you wouldn't take it. Iraq is now officially yours, it is a Republican War and a massive Republican failure.


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* Reid, the majority leader, voted with the Republicans as a procedural matter. This will allow him to bring the matter up before the Senate again. This is why Frist foten voted with the Democrats in the previous coongresses.