White House hopefuls scramble on Iraq

Biden's non-binding measure
Meanwhile, Biden partnered with Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Carl Levin, D- Mich. to offer a non-binding resolution stating congressional opposition to a troop increase.

The Biden measure would not affect funding for the war – but he seemed to drop hints here and there at his press briefing that was inclined to go further – perhaps to curb funding – if Bush didn’t see the light.

“We’re prepared to do whatever it takes to send two messages,” Biden said. The messages: don’t send more troops and seek a negotiated settlement in Iraq among the factions.

Hints of fund cutting
He called the non-binding resolution “a very important first step.”

“Is this a stepping stone to doing something about the funding?” a reporter asked Biden. “This stands on its own, period,” he replied, but then he quickly added that if Bush ignored the resolution “there’s going to be all kinds of proposals” — implying perhaps a funding cut-off.

Dodd, first out the box at a 9:15 briefing Wednesday morning, said he was offering a bill to prevent U.S. forces from being increased beyond current levels without the consent of Congress.

Dodd dismissed Biden’s idea of a “sense of the Senate” resolution as being relatively meaningless.

His bill would not curb or cut off funds for the Iraq operation; it would be a statement of policy — and almost certainly would be vetoed by Bush.

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“I don’t want this debate to be about whether or not the troops that are there are going to be denied any of the resources they need to do their job,” Dodd said. “This merely sets a cap on the number of troops in Iraq as of Jan. 15.”

All of them voted for the war
All the presidential contenders who dealt with Iraq Wednesday are senators voted for the 2002 Congressional resolution authorizing President Bush to use military force in Iraq. The exception is Obama, who didn’t become a senator until 2005.  All have voted for continued funding of military operations there.

On the GOP side, Brownback, just back from a tour of Iraq and Ethiopia said it seemed like “the United States cares more about a peaceful Iraq than the Iraqis do. If that is the case, it is difficult to understand why more U.S. troops would make a difference.”

Brownback opposes Bush’s proposed surge and suggested that “we ought to be negotiating with the Democrats on ‘what will you support?’ Because we need to be in Iraq for some period of time to get this to stabilize, part around Baghdad.”

He added it would be a “catastrophic strategy” to “pull out of Iraq and leave behind a security vacuum or a safe haven for terrorists.”

What McCain has been offering voters on Iraq is a view of events that is unrelentingly grim.

McCain's pessimistic vision
“I want to emphasize again the catastrophic consequences of failure,” McCain said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute two weeks ago, after returning from a trip to Iraq.

“I believe the war is still winnable, but to prevail we’ll have to do everything right and the Iraqis will have to do their part.”

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He warns again and again that if the United States fails to bring stability to Iraq, it will become a base for Islamic terrorists who will then come to the United States to attack civilians here.

What Jihadist leaders seek, he said, is the day when “radical Islamic extremism dominates the entire world. Do I believe that if we leave Iraq, that that’s the end of Western civilization as we know it? No, but I do believe that we will be sending young Americans into conflicts again somewhere else – it’s not the end; it would be the beginning of the end in some respects.”

Perhaps sensing that sounded too gloomy, he added, “We have faced other crises in American history and we will prevail in this one.”

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