Senate Votes To Condemn Moveon.org’s ‘General Betray Us’ Ad

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate voted Thursday to condemn an advertisement by the liberal anti-war group MoveOn.org that accused the top military commander in Iraq of betrayal.

The 72-25 vote condemned the full-page ad that appeared in The New York Times last week as Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, testified on Capitol Hill. The ad was headlined: “General Petraeus or General Betray Us? Cooking the books for the White House.” The ad became a life raft for the Republican party as the war debate kicked into high gear.

With several Republicans opposed to President Bush’s war strategy, GOP members were able to put aside their differences and rally around their disapproval of the ad. Sen. Gordon Smith, one of the few Republican senators who supports legislation ordering troop withdrawals, told reporters Thursday he thought Petraeus’ testimony and the MoveOn.org ad were the two biggest factors in keeping Republicans from breaking ranks with the president: Petraeus’ testimony because it was persuasive and the MoveOn add because it went too far by attacking a popular uniformed officer.

“It was stupid on their part and disgraceful,” said Smith, R-Ore. The resolution condemning the ad was sponsored by conservative Republican John Cornyn of Texas. Voting against it were Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, another contender for the Democratic nomination, did not vote, although he voted minutes earlier for an alternative resolution by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

That resolution condemned the MoveOn ad as an “unwarranted personal attack,” but also condemned political attack ads that questioned the patriotism of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and former Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., both Vietnam veterans. In a news conference, President Bush denounced the ad as “disgusting” and criticized Democrats for not immediately condemning it. “And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org, or more afraid of irritating them, then they are of irritating the United States military,” Bush said Thursday.

Eli Pariser, executive director of the liberal group, responded: “What’s disgusting is that the president has more interest in political attacks than developing an exit strategy to get our troops out of Iraq and end this awful war.” Democrats were reeling after failing to pass legislation Wednesday by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., that would have required active-duty troops to spend as much time at home as they do in combat.

The 56-44 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to cut off a GOP filibuster. The legislation was seen as Democrats’ best shot at challenging Bush this year because of its pro-military premise. It’s failure all but assured Democrats would not be able to muster the support for tougher bills ordering troops home by next summer. “We have learned that the Republican Party is now openly advocating a permanent U.S. presence in Iraq that could continue for at least the next 50 years,” Webb said in a statement.

Momentum behind Webb’s bill stalled after Sen. John Warner, R-Va., announced he had decided the consequences would be disastrous. Warner, a former longtime chairman of the Armed Services Committee, had voted in favor of the measure in July but said he changed his mind after talking to senior military officials. Hagel said the White House also “has been very effective at making this a loyalty test for the Republican Party.” The 56 senators voting to advance the measure were 49 Democrats, six Republicans and Vermont independent Bernard Sanders.

Voting against it were 43 Republicans and Connecticut independent Joseph Lieberman. The vote “means Congress will not intervene in the foreseeable future” in the war’s execution, Lieberman told reporters. In coming days, the Senate plans to vote on legislation by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., that would order combat troops home in nine months. Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said his bill would allow some troops to remain behind to conduct such missions as counterterrorism and training the Iraqis; he estimated the legislation, if enacted, would cut troop levels in Iraq by more than half.

The Senate also planned to vote on legislation by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Reid, D-Nev., that would cut off funding for combat next year. The firm deadlines reflect a shift in strategy for Democrats, who had been pursuing a bipartisan compromise on war legislation. But after last week’s testimony by Petraeus, Democrats calculated not enough Republicans were willing to break party ranks and support more tempered legislation calling for combat to end next summer.

By ANNE FLAHERTY Associated Press Writer

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)