The Webb amendment, which would have mandated that troops spend as much time on rotation home as they do on rotation in Iraq, just failed a cloture vote (that is, it was prevented from getting an up-or-down vote on the floor; it was an obstructionist move).
I'm all for bipartisanship and compromise, it's just that you have to have willing parties *on both sides of the aisle* to compromise. Dems keep trying, and Republicans keep obstructing. Things like this vote demonstrate why there isn't compromise in Washington: there simply are not enough Republicans willing to do the right thing. Votes like this are what expose appeals to the "vital center" as complete fallacy. Republicans, with minimal exceptions (Hagel being notable -- and he's retiring), want to continue the war, and they want to do it in a way that is harming our military forces. Democrats want to end the war and do right by the military. It's really just that simple.
The vote was 56 to 44. Johnson (D-SD) added one Yes vote to the last round, while John "Respected Vital Center" Warner disgracefully changed his vote from the last time this was up, voting against it today.
UPDATE: From comments (with minor edits for length) --
"I remember well when my son in law was in Iraq for 12 long months. My wife did most of the heavy emotional lifting, consoling my daughter when the panic attacks hit. I did less, but I remember it well.
You see -- when a guy dies in Iraq they shut down all communication home until the next of kin can be notified. One unintended consequence of that is spouses know when somebody has died, but they don't know who. It's like that scene in A League of Their Own, except the tension and fear goes on for a day or two and then it happens again a few weeks later.
How many soldiers come back from Iraq to divorce? How many broken families has this war produced?
You don't support the troops if you don't give them adequate time home. You don't support families that way either.
Neocons say, it is a way to force an early withdrawal.
I say, Bush should have thought about that when he started this cursed war.
michael | 09.19.07 - 6:23 pm |
Indeed.
[Note: I royally screwed up the initial title of this post. Reading the comments, I realized the mistake and it's now fixed. The amendment was not "voted down" as I initially -- and sloppily -- wrote, it was blocked from a floor vote by obstructionist tactics, tactics which Republicans are employing at 300% the usual rate during this Congressional session.]
