Senate Majority Leader Reid dumped the bipartisan (thanks to Chuck Hagel) Biden Resolution in favor of John Warner’s when he realized that the version approved last week by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee couldn’t get the 60 votes necessary to pass in the face of a filibuster. The object of this depressing spectacle is clear — the Senate must “formally” rebuff the president on Iraq even if their efforts are futile and contradictory. e.g. Sen. Ted Kennedy has endorsed the Warner resolution, that states eliminating funds to troops in the field would undermine their safety and harm their effectiveness, despite having his own proposal to deny funding for a surge that is already underway. With Senators Feingold and Dodd opposed to the Warner Resolution, about a dozen Republicans would be needed to hit the magic 60 and I’m told getting that many is a “close call.” Although a futile exercise in affecting the new mission of unanimously confirmed General Petreaus, the Senate’s efforts haven’t been useless. During his Senate testimony today, General Casey said, “It certainly strengthens the enemy. . . I’ve already seen it start to come out — the Americans are being beaten, they’re being defeated. Come to Iraq now if you want to be involved in beating the Americans. . . I’ve seen it in the Al Qaeda propaganda.”