Yesterday, the United States House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution opposing President George W. Bush's plan to escalate the Iraq War by sending more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq. Today in the Senate, a similar resolution was prevented from being voted on by a procedural move by Senate Republicans. The vote to consider the resolution in the Senate was 56-34, four votes short of the 60 needed for the Senate to consider the resolution. Michigan's two Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both of whom are Democrats, supported the resolution and voted for the Senate to consider the measure. Seven Republicans joined Democrats in seeking a full vote on the resolution. In the House of Representatives, the two West Michigan area representatives, Vern Ehlers of Grand Rapids and Pete Hoekstra of Holland, both voted against the House resolution. Overall, Michigan's House delegation voted primarily along party lines, with all of Michigan's Democrats supporting the resolution and the Republican delegation opposing it. The only exception was Fred Upton of St. Joseph, who joined only seventeen Republicans nationwide in opposing Bush's escalation.

In the Senate, Michigan's two Democratic Senators both made statements on the Senate floor supporting the proposed Senate resolution and opposing President Bush's escalation. Both Senators dismissed claims that debating the war would undermine the troops serving in Iraq, arguing instead that the troops deserved an open and honest debate about the war in Iraq and understood that the discussion in the Senate was intended to find solutions to the problems facing the United States in Iraq. Senior Senator Carl Levin argued that the "surge" of troops into Baghdad was not asked for by the Iraqi government and that the Iraqi government had actually asked the United States to consider removing troops from Baghdad. He argued that rather than being "emboldened" by a Senate debate, the insurgency in Iraq is emboldened by "an open-ended occupation of a Muslim country by western troops," by the displacement of over a million Iraqis, by the failures in Iraq and the United States' ignorance of Iraqi history and culture, and the fact that the United States is simply repackaging its existing military occupation as a "new" policy. Levin argued that the only solution to the problems in Iraq is the Iraqi government arriving at their own political solution to the problem. Senator Debbie Stabenow's statement also called for the Iraqi government to take a stronger role in attempting to find a political resolution to the sectarian fighting in Iraq. Moreover, Stabenow asserted that the vote offered an opportunity to say "enough is enough" to the Bush administration and to demand a new policy in Iraq.

Both Senators, while acknowledging the failure of the United States' policy--whether that be in Levin's citing the human and financial costs of the war or Stabenow's reminding the Senate that she was one of only 23 Senators who voted against the war--put a considerable emphasis on the role that Iraqis must play in solving the problems facing their country. Stabenow charged that the Iraqis must find a solution to the problem as part of the "responsibility" that comes with "self-determination." However, in emphasizing primarily the role that Iraqis must take, the two Senators did not offer many specifics as to how the Iraqi government--already quite weak and plagued by internal power struggles--could take on these roles. Senator Stabenow mentioned briefly that the United States must train and equip the Iraqi military while providing "sensible military support based on the advice of our generals and military experts." Senator Levin argued that sending more troops to Iraq takes "pressure off" the Iraqi government and lessens the likelihood that they will deal with the sectarian divisions in their country, citing the Iraq Study Group report support his assertions.