This week, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to debate the fiscal year 2008 defense authorization bill. It is now likely that there will be a number of amendments offered to change the mission in Iraq. It is likely that the Nelson-Collins proposal (first offered in July) or something very similar could be offered.
Below is an excerpt from today’s Washington Post (and a link to the full story) about this development.
“…an amendment by Senators Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) to mandate a change of strategy in Iraq is gaining currency with Democratic leaders, according to leadership aides. The amendment would order missions to shift immediately from combat to counterterrorism, border security and the training of Iraqi security forces. It would not mandate troop withdrawals, but Collins said such withdrawals would be inevitable, because the remaining missions could be accomplished with 50,000 to 60,000 troops.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202542.html?hpid=topnews
The Nelson-Collins Iraq policy amendment would:
- Immediately transition the mission for our troops to:
- Protect Americans and American interests and facilities in Iraq
- Protect the integrity of Iraq’s borders – territorially
- Engage and eliminate Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations in Iraq
- Continue training of Iraqi military and security forces
- Calls for the transition of mission to begin immediately and sets a goal of completing redeployment by March 31, 2008.