Senate Defense Bill amendments being voted on now. GOP-proposed Iraq plan, basically modified from a Democratic proposal except it would not set out a withdrawal timetable, has passed:

... The Senate-approved Iraq policy proposal calls for _ but does not require _ the Bush administration to "explain to Congress and the American people its strategy for the successful completion of the mission in Iraq" and to provide reports on U.S. foreign policy and military operations in Iraq every three months until all U.S. combat brigades have been withdrawn.

The proposal calls 2006 a transition year in which Iraqi forces take over security of their country from U.S. forces to a far greater extent so the Americans can begin returning home.

Republicans largely adopted the Democratic proposal as their own, but they omitted one paragraph calling for the president to offer a plan for a phased withdrawal of the roughly 160,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq. The administration has refused to set a timetable for withdrawal, saying insurgents simply would wait to strike until after U.S. forces departed.

Amendments concerning detainee treatment, and other key issues could also be decided as early as today. Hilzoy has the latest on iterations of amendments by Sens. Bingaman and Lindsey Graham that decide whether Gitmo detainees can ever challenge their detentions in US courts. More from the Post.

Update: The new WaPo headline on the Iraq bill passed in the Senate today is interesting: "Senate Rebukes Bush on Iraq Policy." The vote? 98 to 0:

The Senate delivered President Bush its strongest rebuke yet on the conduct of the Iraq war, voting 98-0 to pass a defense policy bill that codifies the treatment of military detainees, establishes new legal rights for terrorism suspects and demands far more information from the White House on the progress of the conflict.

The measure's controversial provisions must still win passage in the House, but they mark the Senate's most dramatic foray into war policymaking and a challenge to the administration, which has issued a stern veto threat. The Senate rejected a Democratic resolution that would have pressured the administration to outline a plan to draw down U.S. forces in Iraq, but, by a 79-19 vote, lawmakers approved a weaker Republican version that insists on regular reports to Congress detailing the military's progress toward the goal of bringing the troops home. ...

Posted by Laura at November 15, 2005 02:19 PM