Feingold, blogging, and Iraq

... And Senator Feingold blogs yet again.

This time, he speaks out in favor of an amendment demanding a timetable for Iraq. He posted on MyDD and DailyKos.

A few quick excerpts:

On Veteran's Day, the President gave yet another speech trying to defend his Iraq policy. He uttered over 5800 words, but not once did he provide the American people any timeframe for our military mission in Iraq or any sense that he has a plan for bringing that mission to a successful end. Instead, he used the same platitudes and empty rhetoric that the American people have already made clear they don't buy. Rather than putting his efforts into a major media spin operation, the President should concentrate on getting our Iraq policy straight, and putting our nation's national security on track.

and,

I am pleased that the silence has finally been broken and this week the Senate will be voting on an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill that, in part, calls on the President to report to Congress with a flexible timetable to finish the military mission in Iraq and bring American troops home.

While this amendment, which I drafted with several Democratic colleagues, is a pretty modest proposal, it is clear that an increasing number of elected officials are finally realizing what a majority of Americans already know - that the President's "stay the course" rhetoric isn't a strategy for success. In fact it isn't a strategy at all.

and finally,

The President insists that he didn't mislead the country into war. From my perspective, the Administration's aggressive efforts to sell the war in Iraq didn't match up with the intelligence briefings I received. I never bought the administrations shifting justifications in the lead up to war and I voted against the resolution in the Senate. However, the President's recent efforts to suggest that those who question the basis for war are undermining our troops smack of desperation. It's important to talk about how we got into this war to begin with. But what's more important now is that the President, who didn't plan effectively for war in Iraq in the first place, acknowledge and respond to the current realities and get our Iraq policy, and our national security focus, on track.

(emphasis mine)

Go read the amendment-- it looks pretty good. And, then, notice who else's name is on it. It seems that a certain Michigan Senator is helping lead this effort.

[UPDATE] Feingold's statement on the Senate floor.