The Scents of the Senate: a little re-reading of Kyl-Lieberman

[PurityOfEssence]

Besides the fact that the "Sense of the Senate" is getting to be more and more of an oxymoron of late, let's just look at this little gem.

The first part of this crockument consists of various "findings", including references to the "murder of members of the Armed Forces of the United States in Iraq." I don't know about you, but heroes though they may be, killing combat troops of an occupying power engaged in a war of aggression doesn't really qualify as "murder", and saying so muddies the water a tad. Something tells me that the grieving relatives of the Iraqi "collateral damage" might think otherwise, too, the ingrates.

The second part is the actual "Sense of the Senate", and it starts off with a rip-snorter, which is what prompts this thread more than anything else.

(b) Sense of Senate.–It is the sense of the Senate–

(1) that the manner in which the United States transitions and structures its military presence in Iraq will have critical long-term consequences for the future of the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, in particular with regard to the capability of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to pose a threat to the security of the region, the prospects for democracy for the people of the region, and the health of the global economy;

What does restructuring our "military presence in Iraq" "in particular with regard to the CAPABILITY" of the Government of the ISLAMIC Republic of Iran to POSE A THREAT TO THE SECURITY OF THE REGION really mean? It sounds like preparing for some of that good ol' fashioned "pre-emptive retaliation", now doesn't it? Read it carefully. Savor the concept here: regrouping and restructuring should be done with a serious eye toward "the capability" of Iran to do mischief and, of course to mess with the world's money. This doesn't just say "block aggressiveness", it says "get ready to do things to ensure they're not capable of grave action".

Although the rest of the text of this pretext is liberally couched with "in Iraq" when saber-rattling, there's nothing that says things can't be done "outside Iraq" either.

"Structures it's military presence""with regard to the capability" isn't too much of a leap of logic, now is it? It's all about preparing for concrete actions against airy supposition. Let's just stomp the snot out of little bastards right now, doncha think?

Yes, many of the teeth were pulled from the carte blanche that Lieberman and others wanted to give Junior, but the truth is this: there was no need for this in the first place, and there are loopholes big enough to drive a supertanker and a whole bunch of cruise missiles through.

The link below will give you the whole stinking thing.

http://wanderingdonkey.com/2007/09/27/kyl-lieberman-passes/