Carl Levin: A Message to the Iraqi Political Leadership

December 19, 2007 -- "Mr. President, I want to review the outcome of last evening’s debate and vote on the Iraq amendment that I offered along with Senators Reed, Voinovich, Hagel, Snowe, Reid, Smith and Salazar.

The amendment expressed the sense of Congress that the missions of the U.S. forces in Iraq should transition to counterterrorism operations, and training, equipping, and supporting Iraqi forces, as well as force protection, and that it should be the goal to complete that transition by the end of 2008.

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The vote on our amendment was 50 yeas and 45 nays.

Legislating on Iraq is a difficult matter because of the need to gain 60 votes in order to overcome a filibuster, and it was perhaps made even more difficult last evening because the Republican Leader stated that the President would veto the Consolidated Appropriations Act if it contained our amendment.

Imagine that – the President would veto funds for the troops if 60 Senators or more simply expressed the non-binding opinion that the goal should be adopted to bring most of our troops home by the end of next year. The President should welcome advice of the Congress, not threaten funding for the troops if it is forthcoming.

Despite a great deal of pressure, including the veto threat, our amendment secured 6 Republican votes - more Republican votes than any amendment to change course in Iraq has secured to date. Senators Voinovich, Hagel, Snowe, Smith, Collins and Dole joined 44 of the 46 Democratic Senators who were present to produce a 50 vote majority vote in favor of our amendment. I am confident that at least 4 of the 5 absent Senators would have supported our amendment, as they have done in the past. Thus, we would have had 54 votes in favor of our amendment, which would have been the most votes thus far for a policy to change course in Iraq.

What message does that majority vote of the Senate last night convey? What message does it send to the White House, the American people, the Iraqi political leadership, and the Iraqi people?

I believe that the message is that more and more Senators are embracing the view that the American people reflected during the last election – namely, that we want to change course in Iraq, we want to have a reasonable timetable for the return of most of our troops, and that we have reached the limits of our patience with the Iraqi political leadership.

I hope that the President takes notice of this majority vote, although the majority will was thwarted by a filibuster. I am sure he is aware of the vote since the Republican Leader said the President would veto the legislation if it contained our amendment.

I hope that the American people understand that a growing majority of the Senate agrees with their view. A growing majority of the Senate believes that we need to establish a goal for the reduction of most of our forces in Iraq by the end of next year and that we we would have passed our amendment reflecting their view but for the Republican filibuster and, perhaps, the threat of a veto.

I hope that the Iraqi political leadership understands that a growing majority of the Senate is willing to vote to change course in Iraq as a way to bring pressure on them to make the long-promised political compromises that virtually everyone agrees are required to end the violence in Iraq. I hope that Prime Minister Maliki, in particular, understands what the United States Department of State reported to Congress and the American people on November 21st: “Senior (U.S.) Military commanders now portray the intransigence of Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq, rather than al-Qaeda terrorists, Sunni insurgents or Iranian-backed militias.”

I hope that the Members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, the Iraqi parliament, understand that they must find a way to bring about reconciliation or face the consequences of squandering the “window of opportunity” provided by the military successes of the “surge” that as General Odierno notes will not be open forever. As I did after my trip to Iraq in August, I once again call for the Iraqi parliament to replace Prime Minister Maliki with someone who is willing to strongly push national reconciliation, with someone less connected to a sectarian group. Finally, I want to note that while last night’s vote relative to Iraq was the last such vote of this year, this is not the last vote that the Senate will hold on our policy in Iraq. The $70 billion approved last night is only about one-third of the amount the Administration has sought for Iraq and Afghanistan. The next time the Congress considers funding for the war in Iraq, of the many factors members will no doubt consider, none will be more important that whether the Iraqi political leaders have compromised with each other and assumed responsibility for the future of their own country. "

Source: Senator Carl Levin