(Senator Feingold on MSNBC-video, transcript) ‘This Is No Time To Back Off’

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/24/feingold-stand-up-on-iraq/

Feingold: ‘This Is No Time To Back Off’

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) responded today to congressional war critics who dropped the Iraq timeline because they feared that “White House attacks” would be “politically threatening“: “Tell that to the families who lose their loved ones in the next few months while we’re dillying and dallying.”

Speaking on MSNBC, Feingold took aim at the “toothless supplemental” currently working its way through Congress. Calling the bill “weak” and “a step backward,” Feingold said, “This is no time to back off. We have ratcheted-up the pressure successfully in the last few months.”

He warned lawmakers seeking to delay action on Bush’s Iraq strategy until September that the White House will use the opportunity to prolong the war even further:

You know what’s going to happen in September? They’ll bring General Petraeus back and he’ll say, Just give me until the end of year. I think things are turning around. And then we’ll be out of session, come back in late January, February, and the fact is a thousand more troops will lose their lives in a situation that doesn’t make any sense and it is hurting our military, hurting our country. This should not wait till September.

Watch it at link~

Feingold’s skepticism is well-placed. Gen. Petraeus recently said he will not have “anything definitive” to say about the war in his September review, leaving open the possibility that the administration will ask for more time. Meanwhile, the White House is making plans to increase the occupation’s presence in Iraq to over 200,000 troops by the end of the year.


Transcript:

FEINGOLD: This is George Bush’s war. I’m taking aim at those in Congress who have caved in to the idea that somehow George Bush should be able to continue the war indefinitely without any plan to end it. So I believe there were many other options, including coming back once again with a proposal for a timeline or, even better, a timeline enforced by using the power of the purse to end this war.

This is no time to back off. We have ratcheted-up the pressure successfully in the last few months, under the great leadership of Senator Harry Reid, our majority leader. This is a step backward and we need to get back on track to end this war because the American people want that and it’s the best thing for our national security.

ROBACH: It’s interesting you said, This is a step backward, because we heard from Senator Harry Reid yesterday saying that this bill is still a big first step and more than the president ever expected he’d have to agree to. Well, obviously, he’s acknowledging that the language is weak.

I mean, is that a fair assessment?

FEINGOLD: You know, I don’t think it does much.

I think it’s weak. I think it’s sad that when Senator Reid and I joined together last week on a vote, we actually got 29 votes, but we needed all the Democrats and some Republicans to come together to vote for a timeline to end the war by the end of next March and to cut off the funding after the troops have been safely redeployed.

So the problem is is that this does not move us in that direction in a serious way. We will have more Americans killed, more Americans maimed, more Americans kidnapped in a situation that doesn’t make sense. And this bill is not up to that issue. It is not up to that tragedy that needs to end.

ROBACH: And yet we’re hearing from Democrats that, you know, Hold on, in the fall we can revisit this. There will be another debate. They believe that events on the ground will continue to deteriorate and that they’re going to be able to get some Republican support to actually get something to the president that fits more what you were hoping for in the first place.

Do you think that’s a real possibility?

FEINGOLD: Tell that to the families who lose their loved ones in the next few months while we’re dillying and dallying on this thing.

You know what’s going to happen in September? They’ll bring General Petraeus back and he’ll say, Just give me until the end of year. I think things are turning around. And then we’ll be out of session, come back in late January, February, and the fact is a thousand more troops will lose their lives in a situation that doesn’t make any sense and it is hurting our military, hurting our country. This should not wait til September.

[in_cog_ni_to]

1. YES! That's what I keep saying! Petraeus is a tool and he will do what the psycho wants. Feingold

FOR PREZ!

I am so disgusted with my party.:grr: Feingold's an exception...and Kucinich....and Dodd. I may vote for Dodd in the Primary if Gore doesn't get in! I'm waiting to see what Barack does on this piece of crap bill.:(

[babylonsister]

2. Petraeus has already said nothing will be determined by September.

I guess it doesn't matter how many die or how much more chaotic/deadly it is there.
As for ALL your prez picks, I feel your confusion!:crazy: Olbermann was right; the way these candidates vote today will, to a large extent, determine their political future, at least as far as I'm concerned.

[Clark2008]

4. Told hubby yesterday I may have to go with Dodd, even though

I'm not excited about him.

Hubby's a Gore-ite. I'm a Clarkie, but each is the other's second choice in our household. Neither of us is very thrilled with our current choices.

[rep the dems]

8. I must have missed the news about Dodd.

Did he speak out/vote against the new crappy Iraq bill? If so then that bumps him up for me too.

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. He's voting against the horrendous bill. Here's the info and link:

May 23, 2007 - 4:26pm — Matt Browner-Hamlin


Senator Dodd explains his decision to vote against the Iraq supplemental and urges his colleagues to join him:


Senator and Presidential candidate Chris Dodd today released the following statement on the latest Iraq supplemental bill:

"This war has gone on longer than World War II and there is no end in sight. Yet we are less secure and more isolated than before. We have lost 3,400 patriotic Americans and shattered our standing in the world. We are spending $2 billion a week - $8 billion a month - and are now caught in the middle of a civil war. Still, this President wants more of the same and this bill would give him his wish.

"I cannot and will not simply give this President another blank check.

"Half-measures and equivocations are not going to change our course in Iraq. If we are serious about ending the war, Congress must stand up to this President's failed policy now - with clarity and conviction.

"As the debate on the war continues, I will continue to fight for a firm deadline that is tied to funding which will allow for a responsible redeployment of U.S. combat troops in Iraq - because that's the only way to responsibly bring this war to a conclusion.

"I hope my colleagues would do the same."

http://www.chrisdodd.com/node/1293

[Justitia]

3. Feingold is the only one I am ever sure of before he even opens his mouth. Integrity, personified.

Thank you Russ.

[Pastiche423]

5. Does anyone know what time the vote is taking place?

[babylonsister]

6. I read a recent thread that the House would be voting this

afternoon and the Senate after that, THIS EVENING, so they can slink off for their vacation.

[Pastiche423]

7. Thank you

:cry: