Sen. Lieberman will be speaking shortly on the senate floor on the two Democratic amendments pending before the senate trying to change course on Iraq.

In fact, Sen. Warner (R-VA) actually agreed to let Sen. Lieberman open up the debate for the Republican side in a contentious discussion about time allotments for individual senators which preceded the actual debate.

(Update: Kerry and Feingold - the authors of one amendment - were forced to cut short their speeches at the request of the Sen. Warner who is managing debate for the Republicans. Warner then immediately yielded time to Sen. Lieberman to speak. Yes, Lieberman opened up debate for the Republicans. He opposed both amendments, even the exceedingly moderate Levin amendment, which is co-sponsored by Senators Biden, Clinton, Feinstein, Obama, and Salazar. At the end of his speech, Sen. Warner slobbered all over Joe, basically reading a love letter to him on the floor of the senate, in thanks for his help in killing these Democratic amendments. Santorum, the next speaker up, also fawned over Lieberman. More later.)

Here is Ned Lamont's statement on the Levin-Reed amendment:

Currently, our troops are stuck in a bloody civil war in Iraq, with no exit strategy. The violence continues unabated and the continued presence of our forces with no sign of a reduction fuels the insurgency and further destabilizes the region. President Bush and his allies believe American troops should stay in Iraq indefinitely - he said that it would be an issue for "“future Presidents and future governments of Iraq."

I support the Levin-Reed Amendment on U.S. Policy in Iraq, and I urge Senator Lieberman to do the same.

It represents the minimum needed, but will build a Democratic coalition to establish and stick to a plan to end the war.

The three main provisions of the Amendment - expediting the transition of U.S. forces to a limited mission, a phased redeployment of U.S. forces, and requiring the administration to submit to Congress its plan for continued redeployment beyond 2006 - are all critical to ensuring that the we move forward from our current failed strategy.

This is an issue that needs to be dealt with by the current President and the current government of Iraq. "Stay the course" is not a strategy for any real victory, and it is time that the President and Congress recognize that fact and take the steps needed to ensure true safety and security for the region and for America.