GOP Sen. Snowe sponsoring Iraq withdrawal bill

[bemildred]

Source: LA Times

WASHINGTON — In another sign of Republican unease with the president's Iraq policies, a third GOP senator expressed support Thursday for pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq under certain conditions.

Sen. Olympia J. Snowe announced she would sponsor a bill to require American commanders to plan a withdrawal within 120 days of the bill's enactment, unless the Iraqi government meets a series of benchmarks.

"The Iraq government needs to understand that our commitment is not infinite," said Snowe, a moderate from Maine who frequently departs from the party line.

President Bush has insisted that Congress not impose any limits on his conduct of the four-year-old war. But Snowe has taken issue with that view.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-warvote20apr20,1,131262.story?coll=la-headlines-politics

[spotbird]

1. She must be up for reelection

in '08.

I wonder if her constituents will fall for this death bed conversion.

[cosmicone]

3. She is not a knuckledragger like the other GOPers

She was one of the few republicans who voted against Clinton's impeachment.

[spotbird]

4. She has been voting with

Bush for six years, even when she had to know it was wrong.

OK, a decade ago she did the right thing. Thank her and send her on her way.

[LostinVA]

16. She votes with the Dems on many issues

[MaineDem]

5. She was re-elected last year

I don't know what to make of this.

[karynnj]

6. She's not - she is consistently one of better Republicans

She and Senator Kerry have had several bills together on small business issues. Whether she was chairing or he was, there was obvious mutual respect and a huge amount of common ground.

Being one of the Kerry group, I've watched a lot of the webcast Small Business and Commerce committee meetings. She is very impressive.

She and Kerry also have a Global Warming bill together.

It is great that she now has this bill.

[MaineDem]

9. Deleted...I was thinking of Collins

Sorry.

[depakid]

25. Be that as it may- she almost ALWAYS votes in a block

with the far right.

People who "praise" her should get a clue about that.

[Strelnikov_]

7. She's not, but Collins is up in 08 n/t

[jamesinca]

14. Got a letter from Sen. Boxers PAC

Collins is being targeted this time around. So is Sinunu!!!! The open seat in Colorado is another hopeful pickup. With the US Attorney thing in the news, Dominici is figured to go also in '08. And the Sen. from Oregon who just can't seem to get his tongue off of GWB's million dollar spot. I would love a 55(D)-44(R)-1(I Lieberman party of self importance) split in the senate. I think I most enjoy the idea of him being told that we have so many registered Dem's that we need him to leave so the registered Dem's may have the chair of the different committees.

[Kolesar]

8. Maybe this war is keeping her from sleeping at night and this is how she deals with it

This *is* a responsible position on her part. This all begs the question of "why was she not paying attention when the war started"?

[RFKHumphreyObama]

23. She was just re-elected

Her colleague Susan Collins is up for re-election next year though. Perhaps she's trying to help her out. On the other hand, after Chafee's defeat, she's probably the last reasonable moderate Republican remaining (her voting record is I think slightly to the left of her fellow Senator Collins but is still more right wing than Chafee) so perhaps she's actually acting in good conscience here

[Botany]

2. Damn liberals want us to lose the war...

.... oh she is a republican.

So Senator Snow count on your vote for impeachment?

[TwilightGardener]

10. Good lady--she will take heat for this, but I respect her.

[rodeodance]

11. Thanks Sen. Snowe.

[rodeodance]

12. Snowe to Bush: "It is our business as well," she said Thursday.

President Bush has insisted that Congress not impose any limits on his conduct of the four-year-old war. But Snowe has taken issue with that view.

"It is our business as well," she said Thursday.

Snowe is not backing a Senate Democratic plan approved last month that would require the president to begin withdrawing troops within 120 days and would set a nonbinding goal of complete withdrawal by March.

But that plan did draw the support of two GOP senators, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Gordon H. Smith of Oregon.

[rodeodance]

13. Lott - dismissed the effect of Snowe's challenge to the president's leadership.

......At the Capitol, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) dismissed the effect of Snowe's challenge to the president's leadership.

"It doesn't matter…. We've got plenty of votes," said Lott, whose 49-member caucus could sustain more than a dozen defections and still prevent Democrats from overriding a veto.

Republican leaders Thursday focused their attacks on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who said at a news conference that he believed "the war is lost."

"I can't begin to imagine how our troops in the field, who are risking their lives every day, are going to react when they get back to base and hear that the Democrat leader of the United States Senate has declared the war is lost," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

[LostinVA]

15. Olympia is more of a Dem than many Dem Congresspeople

[rodeodance]

17. McConnell refused last week to say when he thought Americans would know whether Bush's surge had suc

McConnell refused last week to say when he thought Americans would know whether Bush's surge had succeeded.

But some Republicans who voted with the White House last month are saying privately that the president has only a few more months to demonstrate success.

In her proposed legislation, which has no cosponsors, Snowe put her own limit at four months.

Under her bill, if the Iraqi government has not met the benchmarks — which include disarming militias, amending the constitution and passing legislation to equitably share energy resources — the U.S. commander in Iraq must submit a plan for withdrawing U.S. forces.

"Americans are losing patience with the failure of the leadership in Baghdad to end the sectarian violence and move toward national reconciliation," she said.

[TwilightGardener]

18. McConnell is a hypocrite--I watched him on TV say that this "Surge"

was Chimpy's last chance hail-mary pass, which is an acknowledgment that we are losing. And then he jumps on Reid for having the cajones to say it. The GOP knows the surge won't work, they knew that in January, they admitted as much to Petraeus in that "secret meeting" Andrea Mitchell mentioned. They are buying time with our troops' lives, and they should all burn in Hell.

[dansolo]

24. How can they demonstrate success

when they haven't even defined it?

[Orsino]

19. Who will determine whether or not those benchmarks are met?

I am impressed by the alleged March '08 deadline. Withdrawal will be the admission of our inevitable defeat, and I will be amazed if the hawks let it stand.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

20. Is the water getting higher? Or is the boat getting lower?

And where did all those darned rats come from?!

[aquart]

21. Water's getting higher.

Global warming.

[frogcycle]

22. maybe she actually gets it

maybe she is a republican with a shred of human decency

maybe she feels a sense of responsibility to stop the carnage

or maybe, as someone said, she is up for reelection

regardless, she deserves support