thehill.com
Snowe introduces Iraq withdrawal plan
By Elana Schor – April 20, 2007
Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) has joined the small group of Republicans supporting a framework to leave Iraq, introducing her own bill late Thursday that would give Iraqis 120 days to meet strategic benchmarks before troops begin redeployment.
Snowe voted with GOP leaders last month against the emergency supplemental bill that included slightly different conditions for withdrawal, and her new proposal likely does not signal support for the supplemental conference report once it reaches the floor. Still, Snowe’s move underscores the growing pressure on Republicans to distance themselves from President Bush’s war policy.
“The Iraq government needs to understand that our commitment is not infinite,” Snowe said in a statement. “Americans are losing patience with the failure of the leadership in Baghdad to end the sectarian violence and move toward national reconciliation.”
The bill would establish a concrete timetable for the Iraqi government’s performance rather than the U.S. military’s movements.