Iraq vote looms over State of the Union speech

According to the White House, President Bush’s 2007 State of the Union speech Tuesday night will avoid the usual "wish list" of narrow initiatives, and instead will focus on a few issues such as energy, health care and education.

But one issue – one that affects families in every community, including our own – appears to be looming large over everything else the president intends to talk about: the war in Iraq. Specifically, Bush’s announced intention to send about 20,000 more U.S. troops to quell sectarian violence in the Baghdad area.

The so-called "surge" strategy is generating waves of protest – and action in Congress.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has drafted a resolution (excerpts below) that opposes "escalating the United States military force presence in Iraq" and states that U.S. strategy should be "to have the Iraqi political leaders make the political compomises necessary to end the violence in Iraq."

Biden’s resolution is up for a vote in the Senate on Wednesday, the day after the president’s speech. It promises to overshadow the other likely themes and proposals in Bush’s address.

What do you think this Senate resolution – and the White House policy it objects to – means to our community and the nation as a whole? We’ve already asked a number of readers for their thoughts on Sen. Biden’s resolution. Their comments appear on our Monday editorial page and Web site. Now it’s up to you to continue this discussion. Express your thoughts here, or on our public bulletin board devoted to this topic.

From the resolution by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., with Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.:
(1) It is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq, particularly by escalating the United States military force presence in Iraq;
(2) The primary objective of United States strategy in Iraq should be to have the Iraqi political leaders make the political compromises necessary to end the violence in Iraq;
(3) Greater concerted regional, and international support would assist the Iraqis in achieving a political solution and national reconciliation;
(4) Main elements of the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq should transition to helping ensure the territorial integrity of Iraq, conduct counterterrorism activities, reduce regional interference in the internal affairs of Iraq, and accelerate training of Iraqi troops;
(5) The United States should transfer, under an appropriately expedited timeline, responsibility for internal security and halting sectarian violence in Iraq to the Government of Iraq and Iraqi security forces; and
(6) The United States should engage nations in the Middle East to develop a regional, internationally-sponsored peace and reconciliation process for Iraq.