Bring Them Home… Senate Democrats pushed and won Tuesday when turned back a Republican amendment that would have removed a troop withdrawal plan from the emergency military funding legislation. In a 50 – 48 vote that was aided by the defection of Republican war critic, Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Senate Democrats signaled to Bush, that it is time to vote the will of the people.

Hagel, who opposed identical withdrawal language two weeks ago, walked onto the Senate floor an hour before the late-afternoon vote and announced that he would “not support sustaining a flawed and failing policy,” adding: “It’s now time for the Congress to step forward and establish responsible boundaries and conditions for our continued military involvement in Iraq.”

Democratic leaders think the 50 to 48 victory greatly strengthens their negotiating position as they prepare to face down a White House that yesterday reiterated its threat of a presidential veto. The Senate vote was also the first time since Democrats took control of Congress in January that a majority of lawmakers have supported binding legislation to bring U.S. troops home.

Senator John Kerry issued the following statement, after the Senate voted to defeat the effort to remove a troop deadline provision from the spending legislation:

“Today’s vote gets our country one step closer to ending this ill-advised war and bringing our troops home. Last summer there were only 13 votes in favor of a deadline to redeploy our troops out of Iraq, and allowing the Iraqis to settle their civil war. Today there were 50. I encourage President Bush to think carefully about the strong majority of the American public that no longer believes in this war before he vetoes this bill.“

Tuesday’s Senate withdrawal provision, which sets a March 31, 2008 target for “ending U.S. combat operations” in Iraq, “is tucked into a $122 billion package to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a must-pass bill that Democrats view as their best shot at forcing Bush to change direction.”

The withdrawal language was nearly identical to that of a Senate resolution rejected 50 to 48 two weeks ago…

Under the Senate bill, which is slated for a vote on final passage as early as today, certain U.S. troops would remain in Iraq after the March 31, 2008, target date in order to conduct counterterrorism training and security operations. But troop withdrawals would begin within four months of enactment.

It’s time for the Bush Administration to face the music. When “several Republicans spoke on the Senate floor during the opening hours of debate on Monday,” and suggested that “Democrats were abandoning the troops,” Senator Byrd, “the longest-serving member of the Senate, offered a full-throated defense.”

“The bill before the Senate includes a provision that would give the war a new direction, and points the way out of the civil war in Iraq,” Mr. Byrd said. “There is no restriction on funding for the troops.”

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