Because…….they think this will help them? Bwaaaahaaahaaaaa

Senate Republicans have agreed to advance a bill that would cut off money for Iraq because they say it will let them tout progress in the war.

Senate Repulican Leader Mitch McConnell said that debate “would give us a chance to talk about the extraordinary progress that’s been made in Iraq over the last six months.”

The Senate voted 70-24 to begin debating the bill. A final vote was expected later this week or next week. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said, “It’s obvious, this is only an effort to stall.”

Earlier today, the Army’s top general said Tuesday he wants to reduce combat tours for soldiers in Iraq from 15 months to 12 months this summer - and hopes that sticks.

Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, told a Senate panel he would not embrace going back to the longer tours even if President Bush decided to suspend troop reductions for the second half of the year. The Army is under serious strain from years of war-fighting, he testified, and must reduce the length of combat tours as soon as possible.

“The cumulative effects of the last six-plus years at war have left our Army out of balance, consumed by the current fight and unable to do the things we know we need to do to properly sustain our all-volunteer force and restore our flexibility for an uncertain future,” Casey said (emphasis mine)

More at the AP