Iraq: Reason for hope

Mar 30, 2007

Dear Friend,

In an historic vote, the Senate has joined the House of Representatives to endorse binding legislation to begin withdrawing American troops from Iraq.

The March 27 vote was close. By a 50 – 48 margin the Senate agreed to provisions mandating the start of a troop withdrawal from Iraq within four months of passage and setting a goal of March 2008 for withdrawing combat troops.

This vote means that in the space of five days, both the House and Senate have cast important votes to set a timetable for the withdrawal of most American military forces from Iraq.

If we had any doubt that the votes are significant, we have been reassured by the howls rising from the White House and Republican ranks in Congress over the new legislation.

It took 15 years and more than 58,000 American deaths before Congress acted to pull the plug on the disastrous Vietnam War.

This time, slightly more than four years after President Bush launched the invasion of Iraq, the legislative branch has asserted its authority over war powers and war funding.

While our work to end the disastrous Iraq war is far from over, important progress is clearly being made.

Republican attempts last Tuesday to strip the Iraq language from the Senate bill failed 50-48, thanks in large part to Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) who broke ranks with their party and voted to end the war.

We had hoped for a Senate vote on the Webb (D-VA) amendment to prohibit the use of funds for military operations in Iran without the express consent of Congress, but the Senate never took up the measure. We have been assured that there will be votes in both houses of Congress on Iran in the coming months.

Council for a Livable World will continue to press Congress to pass these measures.

The next step is for a joint House-Senate conference committee to iron out the differences between the House and Senate bills. This will likely happen the week of April 16, after the House returns from April’s recess.

After the conference committee, the revised bill will move to the President’s desk. President Bush has vowed to veto any legislation that includes deadlines for troop withdrawal from Iraq. The President hopes that the American people will blame Democrats if funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is held up, but the public stands firmly behind a deadline for troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Our struggle to end this senseless war is far from over, but thanks to your hard work we are making significant progress.

Sincerely,

John Isaacs and Guy Stevens

P.S. The legislative process is the strongest tool at our disposal to end the war in Iraq. Please forward this information to your friends so we can build on the progress we have already made.