Friday, September 28, 2007

The Kyl-Lieberman Iran Amendment



Is it just a symbolic slap as the Fox News website reports? Or can it be interpreted as the Senate authorizing the use of war against Iran as Senator Jim Webb suggests? Senator Joe Lieberman tells us not to worry:

Lieberman said Webb was off-base on his interpretation of his proposal.

"Our colleague (Webb) has given the darkest possible interpretation ... There is no intention of declaring war," Lieberman said.

Let me get this right. We have an amendment which is not clear enough to immediately tell us whether it authorizes war against Iran or not? And we should instead take the reassurances of Joe Lieberman on this issue?

Could it possibly be that all those Democrats who voted for the Kyl-Lieberman Iran Amendment were fully guaranteed its symbolic nature? Nothing about it smelling like the first step in the propaganda campaign to get the U.S. entangled in yet another war which can only be "won" with the use of nuclear weapons or something of equal horror?

Sure, it could be that the Democrats as the poor and embattled majority had no choice but to vote for this amendment which may or may not be symbolic. It could also be that someone mislaid all those Democratic spines.