Republican senators call for a new Iraq war authorization

Two prominent GOP senators file an amendment demanding a contingency plan in Iraq.

Published July 13, 2007 9:51PM (EDT)

If they hadn't already, things are now starting to look really bad for President Bush. The House just passed a bill calling for troop withdrawal in Iraq, and if that wasnt' enough, today two Republican senators introduced a measure that would, among other things, require Bush to seek reauthorization of the war -- including a new rationale for it -- before Gen. David Petraeus issues his report on the progress of the surge in mid-September.

Sens. John W. Warner, R-Va., and Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., filed their amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Act early this afternoon.

Lugar, who is one of several Republicans who have recently broken with Bush over his Iraq policy, told the New York Times that "many of the conditions and motivations that existed when we authorized force almost five years ago no longer exist or are irrelevant to our current situation."


By Julia Dahl

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