Harry Reid, July 5:
"President Bush and the Iraqis must move now to finally accept a measure of accountability for this war, implement the Iraq Study Group recommendations, transition the mission for our combat troops and start bringing them home from an intractable civil war."
And today, the Hill reports:
A bipartisan proposal to implement the Iraq Study Group's recommendations is gaining momentum among Senate Republicans, but is putting Democrats in a tough position with an anti-war base that wants the chamber to take a much harder line during this month's Iraq war debate.
Recognizing that concern, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) yesterday said he wants the sponsors of the measure to "put some teeth in it." Reid said he had not decided whether to allow a floor vote on the amendment during debate over the defense authorization bill, which will dominate the Senate floor over the next two weeks.
If the amendment is offered to the bill, it may well become the strongest Iraq language that reaches the pivotal 60-vote mark. Democratic leaders know that scenario would almost certainly increase tension with their base, which harshly criticized the new majority's approach to the war supplemental spending bill earlier this year.
"It certainly is not enough for that part of the base," a Senate Democratic leadership aide said.
That's pretty fast, even for Senator Reid. It only took four days to move from demanding that the president implement the recommendations of the ISG fully, to preventing a vote on the recommendations out of fear it would prove unpopular with the Democratic base.
