it now seems that there is a general consensus that the u.s. should start planning to withdraw its forces from iraq. the senate's resolution today just reflects this emerging consensus.
and i agree with matthew yglesias; the resolution that passed is not all that different from the one that the democrat's proposed. the "defeat" of the measure sponsored by democrats seems more like a face-saving measure for the republican party leadership. it lost the battle by even having such a vote come up at all.
so far, these developments don't amount to much in practice. we're talking about a non-binding senate resolution, after all. but it wasn't all that long ago that talk of pressuring the president to withdraw troops from iraq could even be discussed in front of the washington kool kids without being immediately dismissed as some kind of wacky fringe position. there seems to be a change in political climate over the issue of iraq. and a complete loss of control of the iraq debate by the white house and their loyalists.
