The US Senate voted 98-0 to "pass a defense-policy bill that codifies the treatment of military detainees, establishes new legal rights for terrorism suspects and demands far more information from the White House on the progress of the conflict."
While Republicans are attempting to plug the hole in the political Titanic that is their congressional future, they did not go far enough, rejecting "a Democratic resolution that would have pressured the administration to outline a plan to draw down U.S. forces in Iraq." The majority agreed to require "regular reports to Congress detailing the military's progress toward the goal of bringing the troops home."
"Regular reports" are not exactly mandates for action. In fact they're not even mandatory. According to the New York Times, the bill "provides no penalty should the White House not comply."
As I note above, instead of asking the president for a comprehensive plan for withdrawal, Capitol Hill Bush loyalists are permitting the White House to continue procrastinating, exposing them for the spineless cronies they are.
These same folks attacked the Democrats for failing to propose a detailed withdrawal policy in the 2004 election cycle. Now, the Dems have a plan and Republicans still are stalling for time. (The Times notes that the Republican proposal is an edited regurgitation of an earlier proposal by Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Carl Levin (D-MI). Sen. John Warner (R-VA) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), who introduced the amendment, removed language establishing dates for a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq and sold the amendment as an original proposal.)
The Post calls the defense-policy bill a "rebuke" of Bush's policies. And, while the legislation does include the McCain amendment - setting "strict guidelines on interrogation methods used on suspected terrorists," - the Senate limits the court access of Guantanamo detainees.
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