Though largely symbolic, the nonbinding measure to form a decentralized government divided among Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites wins substantial bipartisan support.
by Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer -12:50 PM PDT, September 26, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Deadlocked over how and when to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, the U.S. Senate today approved a symbolic policy statement endorsing the decentralization of Iraq into semi-autonomous regions.
The nonbinding measure sponsored by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) -- which supports a so-called federal system of government in Iraq -- won unusually broad bipartisan support, passing easily, 75 to 23.
It attracted 26 Republicans, 47 Democrats and two independents.
"That is a very hopeful sign," said Biden, who worked with conservative Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to get the measure through.
After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) -- who has failed all year to win any substantial GOP support for measures challenging current White House policy in Iraq -- cast it as an indictment of President Bush's war strategy, though it will not compel the administration to do anything differently.
Biden's proposal, which he outlined a year and a half ago, was once dismissed by the Bush administration and many on Capitol Hill as an unworkable and irresponsible prescription for breaking apart Iraq.
But as the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has stumbled in its efforts to unify the country's warring religious and ethnic communities, the idea of a decentralized country divided among Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Shiites has taken on new currency.
And in the Senate, Biden's plan has become one of the few that has attracted any substantial bipartisan support, even though its practical effect on the situation in Iraq may be minimal.
Senate Democrats last week failed three times to overcome GOP filibusters of measures designed to more forcefully change the course of U.S. policy in Iraq, including two that would have mandated a withdrawal.
Senior Democrats are still working to craft a compromise calling for a change of mission in Iraq that could attract enough Republican support to overcome the 60-vote supermajority insisted on by GOP leaders. It remains unclear whether they will be successful before the Senate wraps up its debate of a key defense policy bill.
Biden's amendment to the 2008 defense authorization bill concludes that "the United States should actively support a political settlement in Iraq based on the final provisions of the Constitution that create a federal system of government and allow for the creation of federal regions, consistent with the wishes of the Iraqi people and their leaders."
Biden has argued that his plan does not endorse partition but simply recognizes that Iraq's communities need to separate to stop the cycle of ethnic and sectarian violence that has consumed the country.
And he points to the Balkans, where the U.S. helped craft a federated system in Bosnia that separated Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims after years of bloody civil war there.
Several leading Senate Republicans -- who have blocked nearly all legislation this year challenging U.S. policy in Iraq -- nonetheless criticized the plan for sending a dangerous message to Iraq.
"It would be a mistake for us to be seen as dictating to the Iraqi people," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate. "It's clearly up to the Iraqi people to make this decision."
All but one of the 23 no votes were Republican.
The Senate also passed a second nonbinding amendment that urges the designation of the Iran Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, a move being contemplated by the Bush administration.
The measure -- sponsored by Kyl and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) -- passed 76 to 22 over the objections of some Democrats that it risked opening the door to war with Iran. Twenty-one Democrats and one independent voted against it.
by Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer -12:50 PM PDT, September 26, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Deadlocked over how and when to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, the U.S. Senate today approved a symbolic policy statement endorsing the decentralization of Iraq into semi-autonomous regions.
The nonbinding measure sponsored by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) -- which supports a so-called federal system of government in Iraq -- won unusually broad bipartisan support, passing easily, 75 to 23.
It attracted 26 Republicans, 47 Democrats and two independents.
"That is a very hopeful sign," said Biden, who worked with conservative Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to get the measure through.
After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) -- who has failed all year to win any substantial GOP support for measures challenging current White House policy in Iraq -- cast it as an indictment of President Bush's war strategy, though it will not compel the administration to do anything differently.
Biden's proposal, which he outlined a year and a half ago, was once dismissed by the Bush administration and many on Capitol Hill as an unworkable and irresponsible prescription for breaking apart Iraq.
But as the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has stumbled in its efforts to unify the country's warring religious and ethnic communities, the idea of a decentralized country divided among Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Shiites has taken on new currency.
And in the Senate, Biden's plan has become one of the few that has attracted any substantial bipartisan support, even though its practical effect on the situation in Iraq may be minimal.
Senate Democrats last week failed three times to overcome GOP filibusters of measures designed to more forcefully change the course of U.S. policy in Iraq, including two that would have mandated a withdrawal.
Senior Democrats are still working to craft a compromise calling for a change of mission in Iraq that could attract enough Republican support to overcome the 60-vote supermajority insisted on by GOP leaders. It remains unclear whether they will be successful before the Senate wraps up its debate of a key defense policy bill.
Biden's amendment to the 2008 defense authorization bill concludes that "the United States should actively support a political settlement in Iraq based on the final provisions of the Constitution that create a federal system of government and allow for the creation of federal regions, consistent with the wishes of the Iraqi people and their leaders."
Biden has argued that his plan does not endorse partition but simply recognizes that Iraq's communities need to separate to stop the cycle of ethnic and sectarian violence that has consumed the country.
And he points to the Balkans, where the U.S. helped craft a federated system in Bosnia that separated Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims after years of bloody civil war there.
Several leading Senate Republicans -- who have blocked nearly all legislation this year challenging U.S. policy in Iraq -- nonetheless criticized the plan for sending a dangerous message to Iraq.
"It would be a mistake for us to be seen as dictating to the Iraqi people," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate. "It's clearly up to the Iraqi people to make this decision."
All but one of the 23 no votes were Republican.
The Senate also passed a second nonbinding amendment that urges the designation of the Iran Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, a move being contemplated by the Bush administration.
The measure -- sponsored by Kyl and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) -- passed 76 to 22 over the objections of some Democrats that it risked opening the door to war with Iran. Twenty-one Democrats and one independent voted against it.
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