Senate sleepover a defeat for Dems

Last week, the U.S. Senate held a rare all-night session to debate the war in Iraq.?? With partisan pillow fights aplenty, Democrats argued vehemently for U.S. troop withdrawal timelines, and Republicans vigorously opposed them.

At issue was a proposed amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill, offered by Democrats Carl Levin and Jack Reed.??It would have required President Bush to begin withdrawing our troops within 120 days, and to complete the withdrawal by April 30, 2008.??It would leave a ‘residual force’ in Iraq to ‘fight terrorists, train Iraqis and protect U.S. personnel and possessions.’? ??

Only four of the Senate’s 49 Republicans sided with the Democrats this time around.??The remainder held the line.??The final vote was 52-47, far short of the 60 votes needed for passage.

At times, the Senate’s behavior looked more like kabuki theatrics than legislative process.??Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, defiant in defeat, asserted ‘Time and the American people are ‘ on our side. We will do everything in our power to change course in Iraq.’??Then he exercised his power, petulantly, by pulling the entire $649 billion defense authorization bill from the Senate. So much for supporting our troops.?? ‘??

This is the seventh attempt by Democrats this year to set timelines for withdrawing our troops from Iraq.?? Fortunately, this latest dabbling in d??j?? vu also failed. The problem with timelines is they tell friend and foe alike our intentions to withdraw from Iraq by a certain date.’??

Timelines, translated into public foreign policy, cause gloom among those we purport to support in Iraq and glee for those, including al Qaida, whom we oppose. If our enemies in Iraq know for certain when we’re giving up the fight there, they gain an enormous strategic advantage in influencing the outcome ‘??not only in Iraq, but beyond as well.

My aversion to public timelines stems mostly from my own Vietnam War experience.??The North Vietnamese leaders understood the true nature of our timelines for a ‘graceful exit’ from South Vietnam.??Once President Nixon turned a noun into a verb by ‘Vietnamizing’ the war, timelines became the means for us to abandon our allies in South Vietnam ‘??and the opportunity for North Vietnam to defeat South Vietnam in 1975.

My Vietnam analogy is not intended to conflate Iraq into ‘another Vietnam.’ The vast differences in the two scenarios are too self-evident to dwell on.??However, the folly of publicly announcing timelines was a recipe for defeat and disaster, for us and the South Vietnamese.??That fact alone should cause serious pause, among political leaders of both parties in both houses of Congress, regarding timelines for troop withdrawal from Iraq.

So, let’s give General Petraeus a chance to work the military ‘surge’ in Iraq and report back on its progress in September. ‘?Meanwhile, President Bush needs more ‘surges’ in diplomatic, political and economic efforts to deter disaster in Iraq and beyond.

As for the Senate, pass the vital Defense Authorization Bill before Senate sleepovers turn into Senate recess.

Thomas B. Vaughn is an instructor at Motlow College and co-host of the radio show ‘Viewpoints,’ which airs on 91.3 FM.