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Congressional Conservatives Quietly Strip Provision That Prohibited Permanent Bases In Iraq

By Faiz Shakir on Jun 9, 2006 at 6:23 pm

Reuters reports that conservatives are quietly backtracking from their earlier stance against permanent base construction in Iraq:

Congressional Republicans killed a provision in an Iraq war funding bill that would have put the United States on record against the permanent basing of U.S. military facilities in that country, a lawmaker and congressional aides said on Friday.

As ThinkProgress noted last month, the Senate acted to unanimously pass an amendment to the supplemental spending bill that clearly stated that none of the appropriated funds should be used for permanent base construction. In March, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) wrote on ThinkProgress that the House had unanimously accepted her amendment prohibiting permanent base construction.

The amendment served an important purpose – it indicated to Iraqis that the U.S. did not plan to remain in their country forever. A Jan. 2006 Knight Ridder poll found that at least half of Iraqis supported attacks against U.S. troops. The poll suggested one reason for Iraqi hostility was the common belief that the U.S. planned to remain in Iraq:

The poll also found that 80 percent of Iraqis think the United States plans to maintain permanent bases in the country even if the newly elected Iraqi government asks American forces to leave. Researchers found a link between support for attacks and the belief among Iraqis that the United States intends to keep a permanent military presence in the country.

It appears that conservatives caved to pressure from the administration. Testifying before Congress in April, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “did not directly answer” a question about whether the Bush administration was planning for permanent bases, and Gen. Abizaid has refused to rule it out. And according to the Congressional Research Service, the Bush administration has asked for more than $1.1 billion for new military construction in Iraq.

Next week, the House will hold a floor debate about the administration’s Iraq policy. Rep. Lee has already indicated she plans to make permanent base construction a key part of that debate. Call your congressman and tell them where you stand.

Media

The Media Descends on YearlyKOS

By Judd Legum on Jun 9, 2006 at 3:34 pm

As you may have noticed, blogging has been a bit lighter than usual. The ThinkProgress team is at the YearlyKOS convention, held at the fabulous Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas.

There are about a thousand bloggers and blog readers here. But the place is also overrun by journalists. Organizers “put the ratio of conference-goers to reporters at eight to one.” (At the media training we hosted yesterday, we were outnumbered by reporters from The New York Times.) I’m not exactly sure why so many of them came, so I decided to review what they’ve written so far:

Time Magazine: Are Left-leaning Bloggers Ready for Their Close-up? Excerpt: “The crowd is older and more professional than coverage of the blogosphere might lead one to expect. In the session on recruiting progressive candidates for local office, there’s an ER doctor, an AIDS activist, a high-school teacher and a representative from the Organic Consumers Association. There are some that conform to type: thirtyish and pale, sloppily dressed and bleary-eyed. Those are the journalists.”

Scripps Howard: Bloggers, Dems to convene in Las Vegas. Excerpt: “With the past couple of years, courting bloggers in towns across the country has become as much a part of the ritual for some politicians as attending union rallies or Chamber of Commerce dinners. ‘When I go anyplace now, I’ll usually call some of the key bloggers,’ said Warner, who also is hosting a party for bloggers at this week’s convention. ‘I’m trying to shift the debate from ‘left vs. right’ to ‘future vs. past.””

New York Sun: Democrats Flocking to Vegas As Blogs Flex New Muscle. Excerpt: “Could these laptop-strewn hotel hallways be the 21st-century equivalent of the smoke-filled rooms of yesteryear?”

San Francisco Chronicle: Top Dems convene, drawn by bay blog
Daily Kos activists have gained clout. Excerpt: “‘There’s this myth that if you see five people standing next to each other, the blogger is going to be the weirdest-looking one,’ said Faiz Shakir, a 26-year-old who is deputy research director at the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. ‘Look around. That doesn’t seem to be the case here.’”

National Review: The Two Worlds of the Liberal Blogosphere. Excerpt: “That is the contrast of YearlyKos. On the one hand, Moulitsas speaks as if he has won the political game, while on the other side some of his followers worry that they’re not even in it.” (National Review published another peice about our media training.)

I’m not sure what the reporters were hoping to find out by coming here. So far what they’ve discovered hasn’t been earth shattering: 1) many liberal bloggers don’t fit into the stereotypes the media has created, 2) liberal bloggers are respected (and feared) by politicians, and 3) liberal bloggers disagree about stuff. Check your local paper for more breaking news.

UPDATE: The New York Times joins the fray: Read more

Politics

Specter Caves, Proposes Blanket Amnesty For Illegal Government Surveillance

By Judd Legum on Jun 9, 2006 at 12:37 pm

At first, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) talked tough about the President’s warrantless domestic wiretapping program, insisting that it be subject to judicial review. From the 2/17/06 New York Times:

[C]ritics of the program, including some Republicans..say it must be brought within the scope of the intelligence court. Among them is Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who is circulating legislation that would require the court to pass judgment on whether the wiretapping is constitutional.

“Unless they’re prepared to have a determination on constitutionality as to their programs, window-dressing oversight will not be sufficient,” Specter said.

Now, Specter has unveiled a new version of his legislation. Instead of requiring the administration to submit to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the new bill simply makes it optional:

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has proposed legislation that would give President Bush the option of seeking a warrant from a special court for an electronic surveillance program such as the one being conducted by the National Security Agency.

Further, Specter has now included a provision protecting anyone who authorizes illegal surveillance from legal trouble:

Another part of the Specter bill would grant blanket amnesty to anyone who authorized warrantless surveillance under presidential authority, a provision that seems to ensure that no one would be held criminally liable if the current program is found illegal under present law.

Glenn Greenwald, who describes Specter’s bill as dragging “the country to a still new level of lawlessness,” has more.

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