Congress exercised its constitutional responsibility this week by appropriating more than $100 billion to fully support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, the President chose not to cash that check. It is up to him to explain to the American people why. We won this war four years ago. The question is when we end the occupation. This bill called for a much-needed shift in our approach to Iraq. The United States military is not going to change the societal makeup of Iraq. And the Malaki government is not going to bring peace among Iraq's competing factions without the strong, overt, diplomatic cooperation of other countries in this region. And this bill called for just an approach. I have always said that we need to support the troops through leadership that is equal to the sacrifices we are asking them to make. It is time for a new approach in Iraq, one that displays smart diplomatic leadership in the region. We must bring this occupation to a proper conclusion that will increase our ability to focus on international terrorism, increase the stability in the region and allow us to focus on our strategic interests elsewhere in the world.

A large part of what got me interested in Jim Webb, as an early supporter back in early 2006, was his ability to cut though the crap and get to the heart of the issue in Iraq, as he put it today in his response to President Bush's veto of the Iraq supplemental appropriations bill, "The United States military is not going to change the societal makeup of Iraq."

The US military did what is within its core competency during the first three weeks after the invasion -- it defeated the Iraqi military. "Nation building" is not a military core competency. We have very little ability to impose secular liberal values on a traditional and conservative Islamic society. We have little ability to douse the flames of sectarian hatreds. Yet that's the phase we're in now -- what in previous times would have been called "civilizing the natives" -- as futile in the neoconservative fantasy of benign empire as it was in the European version which existed a century ago.

The only way we are going to be able to make any progress is with the cooperation of the states in the region, which share culture and values with the various sects in Iraq. If we don't secure their cooperation, we could easily mess around for another five or ten years in Iraq, and still leave behind a mess.

Thank you, Senator Webb, for standing up on this. We've lost a round today with President Bush's veto, but we won't lose the fight!