UPDATES! (Jim Webb Stands Tall) Action: Stop Lieberman/Kyl Amendment

Sept. 26 UPDATE: Toned-Down Measure Passes: “The Kyl-Lieberman amendment, in substantially revised form, passed 76-22. The most egregious saber-rattling language was removed. We’ll have more soon on TPMtv.”

Late Sept. 25 UPDATE: “Due to the still outstanding concerns raised over the amendment, [Majority Leader Harry] Reid announced this evening on the Senate floor that Lieberman-Kyl bill “will not have a vote in the near future.” Reid added that negotiations are ongoing and “maybe the night will be bring more clearness to the issue. But right now I think it’s fair to say there will be no votes tonight.” – From ThinkProgress’s “Durbin: Lieberman-Kyl Amendment Is ‘Dangerous,’ ‘Puts Us On Record’ In Support Of Iran War”

UPDATES: Webb: Lieberman And Kyl’s Hawkish Iran Amendment Is ‘Cheney’s Fondest Pipe Dream’:

[Senator Jim] Webb [D-Va.] cautioned that the “cleverly-worded sense of the Congress” could be “interpreted” to “declare war” on Iran. He continued:

Those who regret their vote five years ago to authorize military action in Iraq should think hard before supporting this approach. Because, in my view, it has the same potential to do harm where many are seeking to do good.

“At best, it’s a deliberate attempt to divert attention from a failed diplomatic policy,” said Webb. “At worst, it could be read as a backdoor method of gaining Congressional validation for military action, without one hearing and without serious debate.” Watch it:

Webb said that … READ ALL.

The amendment is being revised. (More below the fold.)

FURTHER UPDATE via ThinkProgress:

At a press conference this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that the hawkish amendment on Iran being offered by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is now being revised prior to a Senate vote on the matter:

REID: There are efforts being made before we vote on them to modify those two amendments, because people have issues with both of those amendments. So, until we finalize what they really want to do, I think it would be unwise for me to say that I support Kyl-Lieberman, or don’t support it. I think I have to wait until I see what they are finally going to come up with, because some people have some real substantive problems with what’s in that Kyl-Lieberman amendment.

The revisions to the Lieberman-Kyl amendment are most likely driven by concerns raised by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), who warned the amendment amounted to a declaration of war.

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ORIGINAL:

ORIGINAL: Leslie gave you the scoop in “Amendment Eases War on Iran.” Now, via an e-mail as well as a post by Josh Marshall, it’s made clear that it is imperative that we each pick up the phone and call our senators (Senate site or toll-free at 800 828-0498, 800 614 2803 or 866 340 9281):

From Josh Marshall this morning:

War with Iran for Fun and Profit
Did you hear about the War on Iran Authorization bill the Senate is going to vote on perhaps as early as today? No, that’s not how it’s getting billed. But that’s what the ‘Kyl-Lieberman’ amendment is. In fact, the supporters of going to war against Iran are using exactly same strategy with this amendment that they did to lay the ground work for the Iraq War.

We give you the rundown in today’s episode of TPMtv …

The e-mail forwarded to me originates from Kucinich, not my candidate, but he makes some great points:

CALL YOUR SENATORS RIGHT NOW AND DEMAND THEY VOTE DOWN THE LIEBERMAN-KYL AMENDMENT

In case you thought it was just an aberrant moment of lunacy last week when Lieberman pressed General Petraeus for an attack on Iran, just before the weekend he introduced an amendment to the defense bill to authorize exactly that.

No, we are not kidding. He has drafted language that any impartial observer would interpret as a DECLARATION OF WAR against Iran, and he is pressing for a vote as fast as possible.

ACTION PAGE:

[...]

We need every warm body we can muster to call and email their senators RIGHT NOW, before they pull another fast one and sneak this one through in the dead of the night. Call them toll free at 800 828-0498, 800 614 2803 or 866 340 9281, and the submit the action form below to make sure your message gets through.

Just yesterday, Newsweek reported that Cheney had recently made overtures to Israel to get them to launch an attack against Iran, to try to provoke an all out conflagration. It seems every day there is a new story leaked about their aggressive preparations for The Debacle, Part 2. And just as in the lead up to the Iraq invasion, they will keep lying, lying and lie some more about their intentions until they’ve shot off every cruise missile in the military inventory.

We need your voice, and the voices of everyone else you know, … We need to absolutely flood the Capitol with phone calls and email. Please believe your voice counts. Please believe that when enough of us raise our voices together at one time they do have an impact.

Cheney and his minions are absolutely not going to stop pushing for an even bigger disaster unless we stop them by speaking out with a louder voice. So we cannot let up ourselves even for an instant. …

CYNICAL NOTE: I have no clue if our calls will help. But we have to try.