Something short of a miracle happened in Senate yesterday. An amendment to the Iraq Supplemental Spending bill was passed forbidding any money be used for permanent bases in Iraq. The amazing part is that this amendment was introduced by a Democrat – Joe Biden. Think Progress points out that the House has also taken a similar action:

Earlier this year, the House passed an amendment offered by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) that similarly stated no funds should be used for permanent base construction.

This is a very important issue and one that needs to be addressed. Permenant bases in Iraq will only enrage the animosity between the Muslim world and the west more. Remember that Osama was one of our “assets” until the first Gulf War when he told the Saudi’s by allowing us into their nation we would never leave. We of course have been proving him right.

Atrios also has a view on this that I happen to agree with:

The Senate can pass as many amendments as they want but if Bush decides that we need permanent bases in Iraq he’ll build them. He’s claimed that authority. Congress can continue to participate in the sham that Bush thinks he needs to abide by their laws or they can do something about it.

I could not agree more on this. Bush has already abused his power over 750 times by adding his “signing addendums” to bills basically saying “I don’t have to listen to Congress”. This will most likely be another one of those incidents. True with that abuse of power it is no wonder why he has never vetoed anything.