the guy by the door …

A significant number of Republican Senators have publicly called for a change in strategy in the war in Iraq. Nonetheless, they have blocked even a hint of a timetable with the threat of filibuster that none dared call filibuster¹. Surely, in the cold sober light of CSPAN2, those Senators would be forced to put their vote where there mouth is. Or at least that’s what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [D-NV] hoped. But NO!!! After 30 hours of debate, the Senate voted 52-47 to end debate and vote on the Levin-Reed² Amendment to the Defense Authorization Act for 2008. Falling short of the 60 votes required, the amendment did NOT come to a vote. Senator Reid withdrew the the Defense Authorization Act from the floor, leaving open the possibility of resubmitting Levin-Reed at a future date. Presumably, pressure on the Repugs will be greater in September.

The best account I’ve seen, including full text of Levin-Reed, is at BobGeiger.com.

How much of a change in strategy are we talking about?

Not a lot. Levin-Reed calls for a reduction in troops in Iraq to be completed by April 2008, but leaves some in place indefinitely. Presumably their role would be limited. It does nothing to reduce the number of American paid mercenary soldiers in Iraq. Lastly, and most important for the long term, it leaves the door open for “redeployment” in the region. It may be a turn in course, but it is not an obvious turn away from the neo-conservative pursuit of hegemony. With the Lieberman amendment already attached to the the Defense Authorization Act, Levin-Reed might merely mean a turn in the course of the pursuit of hegemony away from Iraq toward Iran. That would not be a course for survival.

*I’m goin’ for a little Matt Drudge thing here.

¹A cloture vote to end debate and bring a measure to a vote, requires 60 of the 100 votes. Rather than say filibuster, the Repugs simply say, “you know it takes 60 votes?”

²The homophonic Senator Jack Reed [D-RI] is distinct from the Majority leader.

Some recent reports have suggested “diplomatic progress.” However, the Guardian Unlimited suggests that the debate in the White House has shifted towards Dick Cheney’s desire to attack.

Senate Unanimously Adopts Lieberman Amendment to Confront Iran on its Attacks on American Soldiers

Last Wednesday, in consideration of the Defense Appropriations Act, the Senate voted 97-0 to confront “the Islamic Republic of Iran over its proxy attacks on American soldiers in Iraq.“

The impeachment movement has notched up in the wake of what is almost certainly a deal to keep Veep Cheney’s former Chief of Staff from telling what he knows. If this has convinced you, get on board while I elaborate the case for other folks. I have seen the site, off and on, between DNS¹ errors. There are, no doubt, traffic bursts on the site as various internet sites point to this new site. I wonder also if there is a “wheel war” with Cheney loyalists hacking the DNS servers. Stay tuned.

To the “What Good Will It Do?” crowd and the cornucopia of leftish necessitarian groups pursuing their own private visions of the end of history, I will simply point out that the list of coalition members includes many of your counterparts, ranging from The World Can’t Wait to The Nation. I say “notched up” because of the breadth of this list.

I first heard about this site last night. I was signer number 95. Today July 6:

¹Domain Name System, the nodes on the net that convert domain names e.g. impeachcheney.org to IP [Internet Protocol] addresses. These are the numbers that are actually embedded in each and every packet of a message to tell the nodes where it is going.

Dan Ellsberg on Amy and Juan.

Archived streams [audio and video] available.

Don’t do what I did. Don’t wait ’til the war has started. Don’t wait until the bombs have fallen against Iran. … Obey your oath to the Constitution … not to the Commander in Chief…

Daniel Ellsberg to those with modern equivalents of the Pentagon Papers in their safes.

In honoring Beacon Press¹, which published the Pentagon Papers² thirty five years ago, the Unitarian Universalist Church held a convocation in Portland Oregon. Dan Ellsberg was invited to recount his part in getting the papers to Beacon. Also asked to recount his part was former Senator and Presidential candidate Mike Gravel.

¹Beacon Press is sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church.

²Thirty five other publishers had refused to publish them.