US Senate Debate Ends Debate Talks
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February 2007. A resolution put forward to debate the increase in Iraq
troop numbers in the US Senate has failed to gain the necessary support.
After 56 senators voted in favour, just four short of the sixty necessary,
the senior house of the US legislature will now not
discuss the Bush administration’s strategy of creating what
Democrat senate leader Harry Reid called a “tragic goal [of] more war”.
The resolution was tabled to criticise Bush’s new policy in Iraq of
increasing troop numbers by 21,500 troops.
A rebuff for talks is a victory for lobby groups who have long considered
the idea of rational debate and logic to be outdated principles. Those who
support arguments in favour of traditional
principles of democracy, however, may well be dismayed by such a
succession of non-binding motions.
The White House moved to play down the vote, warning the legislative houses
not to oppose the approval of the $93bn needed to assist the new strategy.
With congress still having the power to block the sanctioning of the extra
money, however, the episode may be akin to a child dismissing a parent’s
wishes only to hope he still gets the pocket money
he needs to buy a new toy. Albeit a toy which aims to kill and main anyone
who might be so audacious to oppose him.
“In this administration, we tend to do things without debating them. The
very idea [of a Senate debate] is patently absurd,”
a spokesman for the Bush Administration revealed. When pressed on further
matters relating to the increase in troops deployed in Iraq, the spokesman
was unable to deliberate further.
“Remember, we have voted not to talk
about this issue any further,” he said. “If you love democracy, you’d agree
with everything we say”.