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Fri Dec 05 2008
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Departments War in Iraq
100 Senators quietly vote: majority oppose escalation
by David Swanson
February 10, 2007
This MyDD blog entry and this Politico article describe this PDF showing the results of a poll of all 100 U.S. Senators. It asks how they voted on the war in 2002, whether they regret that vote, whether they support escalating the war, and whether they support ending the war by a certain date. This fairly well cuts through the courageous debate over whether to have a debate over whether to meaninglessly dissent from Bush's escalation plans for a war that most Americans want ended.
The first thing that stands out is that Senators Byrd and Cardin, rather than saying that Yes they support ending the occupation by a certain date, both wrote in the word "Immediate." That's 2 Senators for ending the thing. 98 to go.
If you look at Democrats who voted Yes on the war, 11 of them regret having done so. Cantwell wrote in "No Comment," apparently unable to determine whether or not she regrets slaughtering 655,000 people on the basis of lies. Dorgan also had no comment, and also had no comment on whether he ever wants to end the war. Reid - the guy who's supposedly "leading" - had the same responses as Dorgan. Lincoln had no comment on anything except having voted for the war.
Hillary Clinton's response is worse, however. She voted for the war, does not regret it, and does not support ending it by a certain date. She does oppose the escalation, which fairly well displays the worthlessness of opposition to the escalation. Lieberman had the same responses as Clinton, except that he supports the escalation. Both Nelsons also do not regret having supported the war and have no interest in ending it. Schumer does not regret backing the war and has no comment on ending it. Quite an opposition party, eh?
But there is a bright side: 11 Dems and 3 Republicans said they regretted having voted for this war, and 22 Dems and 1 Independent said they support setting a certain date to end the ongoing genocide or - in the case of 2 Dems - ending it immediately. Another 11 Senators did not say No to setting a date, but rather replied with "undecided" or "no comment."
The responses on the escalation, or "surge", are interesting as well. 48 Dems, 1 Independent, and 10 Republicans oppose the escalation, while a bunch more indicated "conditionally" or "no comment," etc. That's a MAJORITY of Senators on record as opposing something that our monarch has already done without asking their approval, but something that they can't seem to even get straight on debating whether to debate.
We owe a debt to the Politico. Maybe we should let that publication run the Senate. Maybe the usefulness of this sort of survey will inspire the Senate to pass the bill allowing card-check organizing and the labor movement will be reborn out of the ashes of incompetence and militarism.
One can hope.
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Don't forget to check out articles from 2007 and 2008War in Iraq
"Pentagon cover up: 15,000 or more US deaths in Iraq war?" December 17, 2007 Mike Whitney
"Iraq's million" December 6, 2007 Robert C. Koehler
"Talking with two who walk the walk" November 29, 2007 David Swanson
"Baghdad in middle America" November 15, 2007 Robert C. Koehler
"Understanding the next war money vote" November 10, 2007 David Swanson
"Jonesborough justice" October 31, 2007 David Swanson
"Ann Wright’s conscience: former colonel and diplomat against Iraq war" October 29, 2007 Seth Sandronsky
"Open letter to the government from an AWOL soldier" October 21, 2007 James Circello, Iraq Veterans Against The War
"Constitution, flag, and leaving Iraq" October 7, 2007 David Swanson
"Whistleblowers on tape" September 30, 2007 David Swanson
"Observing our government through Blackwater" September 26, 2007 David Swanson
""Funding the war is killing the troops": interrupting the empire 30 seconds at a time" September 26, 2007 Mike Ferner
"We have nothing but fear itself" September 24, 2007 David Swanson
"Sanity in tiny nibbles" September 21, 2007 Robert C. Koehler
"Can we talk? Day one of IVAW's "Truth in Recruiting" campaign" September 20, 2007 Mike Ferner
"New day in the anti-war movement?" September 19, 2007 Mike Ferner
"Bush’s fake sheik whacked: the Surge and the Al Qaeda bunny" September 18, 2007 Greg Palast
"Iraq: the people's report" September 11, 2007 Sue Udry
"Questions for General Petraeus" September 10, 2007 David Swanson
"My son, back from Iraq, lives on tower on National Mall" September 1, 2007 Mary Hanna
"Creative destruction" August 16, 2007 Robert C. Koehler
"300 towns, cities, states oppose Iraq occupation" August 1, 2007 David Swanson
"Reparations" July 30, 2007 David Swanson
"Democrats as Leviathan: another step toward war with Iran" July 23, 2007 Joshua Frank
"We will sit in for impeachment" July 5, 2007 David Swanson
"Gorilla suit" July 3, 2007 Robert C. Koehler
"Peace movement comes to US Social Forum" June 29, 2007 David Swanson
"The hearts of all sane men" June 21, 2007 Robert C. Koehler
"Belief and doubt" June 15, 2007 Robert C. Koehler
"Sen. Clinton wants troops in Iraq for at least 10 years" June 13, 2007 David Swanson
"This is not a story about Cindy Sheehan" June 5, 2007 Sunsara Taylor
"The holy occupation of Iraq" May 29, 2007 David Swanson
"Why I voted "no"" May 27, 2007 Sen. Barbara Boxer
"For five years we've called it blood for oil" May 16, 2007 David Swanson
"Collateral genocide" May 12, 2007 Mike Ferner
"Please don’t throw me in that veto patch" May 7, 2007 Mike Ferner
"Anti-U.S. uproar sweeps Italy" May 5, 2007 David Swanson
"Knee-deep blood in the land of make-believe" April 26, 2007 Carla Binion
"Tax day protests and refusing to pay for war" April 16, 2007 Ruth Benn
"You can't hurt a troop by defunding a war" April 12, 2007 David Swanson
"Iraq veterans speak in Columbus, OH 3-17-07" April 11, 2007 Veterans
"Iraq @ 4: It's Not About the Troops - Either Way " March 26, 2007 David Caploe
"Progressives stand strong against funding war" March 23, 2007 David Swanson
"No mo money for war" March 16, 2007 David Swanson
"Sacrificing our children on the altar of corporate greed" March 15, 2007 David E. Washburn
"Only nonviolence will end the war" March 14, 2007 David Swanson
"The war money can be stopped" March 10, 2007 David Swanson
"How will you end this war?" March 10, 2007 Tina Richards
"Congressman Obey says "Idiot Liberals" need to support war money" March 9, 2007 David Swanson
"Former Pentagon staff speaks out on crimes of Doug Feith, Dick Cheney, and planning of Iran War" March 6, 2007 David Swanson
"I'm more pro-troop than you are" March 3, 2007 David Swanson
"Only nonviolence will end the war" February 28, 2007 David Swanson
"Cindy Sheehan, George Will, and loving your enemies" February 26, 2007 David Swanson
"No, seriously, why did we invade Iraq?" February 22, 2007 David E. Washburn
"Lord knows we've suffered enough already: keep them out of Ohio!" February 18, 2007 Mike Ferner
"Murtha only intends to undo the escalation" February 17, 2007 David Swanson
"Shut up and stop the war" February 14, 2007 David Swanson
"100 Senators quietly vote: majority oppose escalation" February 10, 2007 David Swanson
"Dems change the gas and claim it's a new car" February 9, 2007 David Swanson
"A world that works for everybody" February 7, 2007 Robert C. Koehler
"D.C. demonstration" January 30, 2007 John Conyers, Jr.
"How we can end the occupation of Iraq" January 23, 2007 David Swanson
"Dear Mr. President: Send Even MORE Troops (and you go, too!) ...from Michael Moore" January 22, 2007 Michael Moore
"The Kucinich Plan for Iraq" January 17, 2007 Dennis J. Kucinich
"An Iraq jobs program?" January 16, 2007 Seth Sandronsky
"Waist deep in the big muddy" January 12, 2007 Greg Palast
"Out of Iraq and back to the American city" January 11, 2007 Dennis J. Kucinich
"If not now, when?" January 10, 2007 Mike Ferner
"Mr. President, surge this" January 10, 2007 David Swanson
"3,000 lights delivered to Rep. Marcy Kaptur" January 5, 2007 Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition
"3,000 lights for 3,000 killed in Iraq" January 1, 2007 Peggy Daly-Masternak
Read Articles by Year: 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

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