For those who claim the Democrats don't have a plan on Iraq, Senators Obama and Feingold proved today that we've got at least two.
Obama today offered a comprehensive bill that would mandate a phased redeployment of our combat troops in Iraq, to begin no later than May 1, 2007 and to end no later than March 31, 2008. Full text isn't up yet, but Obama's senate site has a nice summary, including the bill's aim and proposed benchmarks. The bill also (thankfully) prevents any escalation by capping the number of troops in Iraq and the number there on 1/10/07. My favorite part is something so gosh-darn common sense, it's almost criminal that it has yet to be enacted as law:
Congressional oversight: Requires the President to submit reports to Congress every 90 days describing and assessing the Iraqi government's progress in meeting benchmarks and the redeployment goals.
Expect to see more on Obama's plan as the week unfolds.
Senator Feingold is taking a bit of a different tack, proposing (though not offering) a bill that would end all financing for combat operations in Iraq effective six months after the bill's passage. I can't say I'm the biggest fan of this approach; while it certainly forces the President to act, it seems like a bit of a cop out to set a ticking clock and then just walk away. There's definitely some appeal to telling Bush, "You made the mess, so you clean it up", but can we really trust the Blunderer-in-chief to put the pieces back together on his own?
Speaker Pelosi, fresh off her trip to the region, chimed in today in favor of a rapid redeployment of US troops in Iraq. While not a plan, per se, this is definitely a promising development.
No matter who comes out on top, one thing is looking increasingly certain - sooner rather than later, our boys are coming home. (And women, of course. But it's an expression, ok?)
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