Revising the 2002 Authorization for War?

WaPo - Senators aim to revise Iraq mission, reduce troops

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Key U.S. Senate Democrats are preparing a proposal to start bringing U.S. combat troops home from Iraq by rewriting Congress' 2002 authorization for the war, which many now view as a mistake, aides said on Thursday.

Undeterred by Senate Republicans who halted a non-binding resolution opposing President George W. Bush's troop buildup in Iraq, the Democrats are determined to challenge Bush anew by replacing the 2002 authorization of force in Iraq with a narrower mission statement for U.S. troops, the aides said.

The newly defined U.S. mission would involve denying terrorists a safe haven in Iraq, training Iraqi troops and helping Iraqis protect their own borders, said one Democratic aide. The proposal would be binding and a draft calls for U.S. troops not involved in the narrower mission to come home by early 2008, he said.

The argument is that the original authorization was to find and destroy the WMDs, which ultimately didn't exist, and to depose Saddam Hussein, who is now dead. The argument makes sense logically, but we are dealing with partisan politics, not logic.

The article also notes:

If passed by the Senate, the revised authorization would also have to be approved by the House. Bush would then either have to sign it or Congress would have to override his veto for it to go into effect -- and it is far from clear such a measure could attract enough support to survive a veto.

So really it is probably a moot point unless they find a way to attach it to another bill that Bush will have to sign. And I have to wonder, what does Joe Lieberman think of all this?