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| Warner, right, was among 56 senators who supported the Webb proposal in a Senate vote in July.
(The Virginian-Pilot file photos) |
By Dale Eisman
The Virginian-Pilot
WASHINGTON
U.S. Sen. Jim Webb's effort to limit the length of combat tours in Iraq fell short for a second time on Wednesday, defeated in part thanks to an unexpected reversal by Webb's Virginia colleague, Republican John Warner.
As it had in July in a slightly different form, Webb's plan to require that troops sent to Iraq get at least as much time at home after their deployments as they spent in the war zone fell four votes short of the 60 needed for passage under Senate rules.
The outcome signaled the Bush administration's continued ability to thwart Democratic plans to speed the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Webb said his proposal offered "a safety net to our men and women in uniform." Long and repeated deployments are putting unprecedented strains on military families as well as the troops, he charged.
But Republicans, led by presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., argued that decisions about troop deployments are the president's alone and that Webb's proposal was a backdoor effort to force U.S. troop withdrawals.
"Congress has no business in wartime passing a law telling the Department of Defense which of its fully trained troops it can and cannot use," McCain said.
An afternoon-long debate on the plan showcased an unexpected rift between Webb, a freshman Democrat, and Warner. The senior Virginia senator, considered an influential voice on defense matters, had broken with the Bush administration and backed his Democratic colleague in July's vote but switched sides on Wednesday.
Both men were careful to speak deferentially of the other on Wednesday. Webb assur ed reporters of his "great respect for Sen. Warner," and Warner spoke on the floor of his "sense of confidence that this fine young senator will serve Virginia well."
But Warner's move clearly caught Webb off guard; it was announced just an hour after Webb told reporters he was hopeful Warner would support him and would convince other Republicans to do so as well.
Warner said he and Webb agree that the war in Iraq is straining both the Army and the Marine Corps, which are bearing the brunt of the fighting. But he said Webb's proposal could have the unintended consequence of lengthening some deployments and delaying the Bush administration's plan to bring about 5,700 troops home by the end of this year.
Warner has urged such a limited withdrawal - more than 160,000 troops are deployed in Iraq - as a way for the United States to demonstrate that it's serious about forcing Iraq's government to assume more responsibility for the country's security.
Warner also said he still supports the "concept" of Webb's proposal but had been persuaded that it is unworkable. Senior uniformed leaders "convinced me they can't manage this" in the 120 days Webb provided and would need until October 2008 to adjust deployment schedules to meet the Webb plan's requirements, Warner said.
U.S. forces train and then deploy in specific units, and the Pentagon contends its planners need flexibility to reassign individual soldiers and Marines to fill gaps in those units. Under Webb's plan, a soldier just back from Iraq after a 15-month tour, for example, could not be reassigned to a unit preparing to deploy in six months, a typical training cycle.
Webb, who as an assistant secretary of defense in the 1980s specialized in personnel issues, insisted his proposal "is not difficult to manage" and would require only "a small adjustment to our operational policy." His legislation included a waiver provision that would have allowed Bush and future presidents to order repeated deployments with short breaks during emergencies.
But Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning called the Webb plan "a logistical nightmare for our military planners," and independent Democrat Joe Lieb-erman of Connecticut said it would force military leaders "to send less-capable units into combat."
While Republicans defeated Webb's proposal, which had been the signature initiative of his first year in the Senate, the freshman lawmaker led the defeat of a GOP effort to pass "sense of the Senate" language that would have urged - but not required - the Pentagon to give troops longer breaks between deployments.
"This is not a time for the United States Congress to be giving advice," Webb said of the GOP proposal. "It's a time for the United States Congress to step in and put a floor under those people who are serving."
Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com
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Defeat of Webb bill
The democrats do not enjoy a veto proof majority (yet) and are left with trying to persuade foolish republicans to side with the MAJORITY of US citizens who these republicans were elected to represent. In due time, they will feel the sting of retrubution once again and suffer serverly for following the simpilton-in-chief over the cliff of ideology based on a 10th grade understanding of history and foreign policy. A certain small proportion of this country's population continue to support this ill conceived policy based on patriotism and party. I pray that some good will come from the trillions of dollars and thousands of lives being thrown into this maelsrtom.
Put Winning in Iraq to a Vote
Webb continues to waste time on frivolous attempts to posture while not doing one thing positive for the warfighter. Not one Democrat will advance a bill on whether or not victory in Iraq is a must because they think being defeatists will strengthen their positions in an election year. Fools. Webb, nor any other Dem, does not want to admit that the operational gains in the region due to the successes of the recent surge in tactical operations are positive steps in handing Iraq back to the Iraqis within the year, the absolute best thing for the troops and our country. On to Iran.
Who's in charge?
It is inconceivable to me that the President of the United States would delegate his responsibility for national security to a junior four star General who has tactical command of an area of responsibility but is not even the Commander of the Central Command. Does this President even know the difference between tactical affairs and national security? The military is still quite capable, even though it is being driven into peril by the President, and is expected to do their job, but we expect Presidents to deal with political, economic, fiscal, cultural, diplomatic, and national relations, not whether a tactic is working in theater or not. Nothing more clearly demonstrates the President's failure than his passing of his duty to Petraes.
Good try Sen Webb
Thanks for trying, Senator Webb. I wish there were more senators like you in office. I'm sorry that your cohort went yellow on you and flip flopped. I understand that it isn't the first time and with the way things look, when your cohort retires, there's a good chance there will be another democratic Virginia Senator working alongside you..
I don't see how allowing the troops a few extra months home is a backdoor withdrawal. They need the extra time to wind down because when they come back, they are just getting ready for their next deployment. Thanks for trying Sen. Webb. Most of us are proud to have you as our senator!!
Thanks for pointing out ...
That the Democrats are working very hard to bring an end to this war and the republicans are opposing every effort. Since two-thirds of the country wants the war to end and you armchair patriots are in the minority, we appreciate your unintended honesty, even if it was just a poor attempt at sarcasm.
Against the war and I get it!
You know it is sickening to see all these people here say that people who don't support the war just don't get it etc. I do get it. I understand that there are those out there who actually expect us to continue to allow our troops to die in a place we never belonged? If there is a vacuum in that area it isn't going to be for a lack of trying. You can't force people to accept our way of life and then stay there and beat them into submission. They don't want our help they've proven that time and again. I say the best way to save ourselves is to have Bush and his administration charged as War Criminals. That just might appease the masses.. Especially if the American public does it!! Vacuum or not we need to be out of there. not our war now!
What a joke
The Dems had two anti-war bills killed, with just cause, in the same day and three in one week. The time has passed when the Dems could have been the party of change and are now the party of a almost daily running joke. All the arm chair General need to set back and let the real Generals exeute the war.
Governing By Fear
"Elect me (Bush) or we will be attacked again", and a number of you have fallen for it. The terrorist are coming, the terrorist are coming. Terrorist are already here and I would prefer having our troops here to protect this country then deployed to Iraq fighting a war of lies and leaving us vulnerable. Just how long do you want our troops slaughtered for George Bush? There is no "win"in this war of oil. The Iraqi government needs to take responsibility for its own country. Bush stated he will be handing this war over to the next President which is one of the most irresponsible things he has ever said. So who is the idiot you refer to?
Pull out !!!!
Yes lets pull out, so we can open the border doors for the terroist to come into the USA, and let them in to completely destroy the American way of life.
Wake up liberals you have a lit stick of dynamite in your hands and you don't have any idea of where to throw it.......
YOU ARE GOING TO BLOW YOUR SELVES UP AND TAKE THE REST OF THE COUNTRY WITH YOU....IDIOTS
Good try Senator Webb
You made Virginia proud, even though you lost this battle we have not lost the war to end the Bush war of lies. Senator John Warner is a disappointmnet on this. Republicans are constantly saying "support our troops". If they meant that they would have passed this bill and given our troops more time out. Our President who had dodged the Viet Nam war is leading the force in this war, and for God sakes he doesn't have a clue what he is doing, but you Republicans still support him. Shame on Senator Warner for falling in this Republican trap once again. There is one good thing from this, John Warner will be replaced by Mark Warner. That gives us one more leg up in saving the United States and the World from the Republicans.
Support the troops?
I could support Bush's war more if the chickenhawk republicans would enlist to take our troops' places in Iraq for the extended tours. Funny how they cheer so bravely and yet don't quite make it to the recruiting office.
To Mr. Webb
As you represent VA but your decisions affect the entire country: thank you for trying! Don't give up. The naysayers in this board are sickeningly partisan. You know if you didn't try they would point out later that you didn't try. Give 'em hell Jimmy!
Looking for political cover
The Pentagon usually requires twice as much rest as deployment. Webb's compromise required only half that. And with Army suicide rates soaring, Repubs still said no. Bush enablers in Congress repeatedly label Dem attempts to bring a change to Bush's Iraq war as meaningless political stunts, but when a bill comes that would actually support the troops by providing more downtime between deployments (after they went from 12 to 15 months), the Repub enablers instead offer a meaningless non-binding political stunt called the "Sense of the Senate" resolution. How ironic. With the "surge is a success" propaganda push by the admin, the enablers allow the presnit to save face by kicking this debacle down the road for the next admin to deal with.
Give the Troops a Break
Wish Senator Webb had prevailed..This is a terrible mess that we're in and it needs to be ended..
Mr. Webb should be ashamed
Mr. Webb should be ashamed. This legislation was not about the troops but about the Democrat goal of retreat and surrender. Today, Al-Zawahiri in a video stated that the United States is being defeated in Afghanistan and Iraq. With Senator's like Webb why would they think any different.
Shame on WHO?
Shame on you John S. come out of your cacoone and wake up. Good ridens to Warner and hopefully we'll get someone in there that can END THIS WAR.
Webb
I would fully support the bill "if" Webb and all the democrats in Congress went to Iraq and relieved the front line military members for 1 year. Webb let the military run the war.
Put an end to this bloody mistake
This isn't a high school football game. You don't get grab your pom poms and, from the safety of your trailer, yell, "Fight, Fight. Fight. Win. Win. Win. Take us on to victory." This is a real war in which precious American lives and resources are being expended. To justify the terrible sacrifices that others are making so you can play cheerleader, the government needs to prove the war is in our national interests. But the government has lied to us about the reasons for the war and has steadily escalated the conflict. Instead of increasing our security, this enormous blunder has swelled the ranks of terrorists. Iraq isn't a football game. It's the wrong war in the wrong country. Americans have heard enough silly slogans. End this war now.
More of the same from junior senator
Those against the war just do not get it. Hey Junior senator, the job is not done. Ready for $6 a gallon of gas & jihad incidents here in Virginia? I never enjoyed long deployments & neither do our military people of today. However they have a job. Get paid well, tax free & other bonuses. Plenty of leave & time off when they return. Also when "over there" they get good food, internet, movies and recreation. Could we have won in WW2 if we had taken it a bit easy? Like life, War is tough and until I know my nation is much safer than prior to 911 and more importantly the oil supply to run our nation is safe then I applaud the men & women who voluntarily signed up to do the job of war-Thankyou service men & women & their families too.
Political Stunt
Most everyone sees that this bill was just another political stunt to force troop reductions in Iraq. By increasing the length of time between deployments the Pentagon has few troops to work with, thus they are forced to reduce levels. This has nothing to do with the welfare of the troops. The truth is it sounds much better than "retreat and surrender". Congress voted for the war and now the dems want to pull out before the job is done, causing a regional political vacuum and humanitarian disaster. Shame on everyone who wants anything less than victory.
Shame, Senator John Warner!
How can anyone be against Senator Webb's proposal and still claim to support the troops? How can anyone continue to support Bush's irrational, delusional plan for "success" in Iraq? It's crystal clear, that the illegal, criminal invasion of Iraq has failed! Why, in Heavens name, should our military men and women continue to be killed or horribly maimed? Every member of Congress, who voted against Senator Webb's bill must be voted out of office, pronto! To sacrifice even one more life in Iraq is at this point unconscionable, no, unpatriotic! For once, forget being a Republican or a Democrat and for "God's sake" be an American first!!