Political Skullduggery

We now hear from the reasonable, moderate, pragmatic, responsible centrists. (Isn't that how we go into this mess?)

Senator John W. Warner of Virginia is drafting a proposal on Iraq policy with two Senate centrists in an effort to provide an outlet for lawmakers uneasy with President Bush's troop buildup but unwilling to back a toughly worded resolution opposing the new strategy.

Aides said Friday that Mr. Warner, a Republican who just stepped down as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, was working with Senators Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, to draw up a Senate resolution they will unveil Monday as an alternative to another bipartisan plan that flatly opposes troop increases in Iraq.

That measure, by Senators Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, and Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Carl Levin of Michigan, both Democrats, is scheduled to be considered by the Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. ...

The flurry of Iraq resolutions, coming from the political left, right and middle, raised the prospect of muddling the outcome of what Democratic leaders had hoped to keep a simple yes-or-no vote on Mr. Bush’s plan. ...

In short order this week, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut introduced a plan to cap troop levels in Iraq; Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York offered a similar proposal; and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois said he would present legislation as early as next week. All stopped shy of a proposal offered by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, that would block spending for any troop increase, an idea favored by the staunchest opponents of the war.