Republicans were for amnesty before they were against it

Republican senator John Warner, of Virginia, claims now to oppose amnesty for Iraqi insurgents who killed American troops. This comes after Warner and 17 other GOP senators voted against a resolution opposing any such amnesty plan by the Iraqi government.

Quotes from Warner and other senators appear in an Associated Press story slugged, "U.S. lawmakers denounce Iraqi amnesty plan." The piece quotes Democrat Carl Levin, of Michigan with a strong statement against amnesty, calling it "unconscionable." New York Democrat Chuck Schumer demands a commitment from the Iraqi prime minister that there will be no amnesty for the killers of Americans.

The story quotes Republicans as well. Their statements, however, are considerably less declarative than those of the Democrats.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that while he opposes amnesty, the United States must respect Iraq's sovereign right to decide its own future.

[...]
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on ABC's "This Week" said he does not believe the Iraqi government intends to grant amnesty to people who killed Americans.

[...]
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said if there is to be peace in Iraq, al-Maliki must find a formula for moving forward that is acceptable to all. "I'm hopeful that one of elements of the formula that he presents to the Sunnis is not amnesty because that is going to run into solid opposition, obviously, in the United States," Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CBS' "Face the Nation."

At face value, the Republicans' statements express nothing stronger than an all-things-being-equal desire that the Iraqi government choose not to grant amnesty to isurgents who killed American troops. It is hard to divine from their comments any principled opposition to an amnesty plan.

Even with that, AP reporter Deb Reichmann lets Warner and McConnell completely off the hook by failing to mention that they voted against a defense authorization amendment which contained a strong statement against amnesty.

The resolution read:

To express the sense of Congress that the Government of Iraq should not grant amnesty to persons known to have attacked, killed, or wounded members of the Armed Forces of the United States.

Warner, McConnell and 16 other senators, Republicans all, voted "no." This means they voted "yes" to amnesty for Iraqi insurgents who killed Americans. Inclusion of this fact could have helped Reichmann's readers place the GOP senators' remarks in an important context. It might have been helpful to know that these Republicans were for amnesty before they were against it.