They Voted For You: "Soft Partition" of Iraq

Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., both voted for a resolution last week "to express the sense of Congress on federalism in Iraq."

Drawing on the premise that "Iraq continues to experience a self-sustaining cycle of sectarian violence," it proposes that the U.S. "should actively support a political settlement in Iraq based on the final provisions of the Constitution of Iraq that create a federal system of government and allow for the creation of federal regions, consistent with the wishes of the Iraqi people and their elected leaders."

The measure, sponsored by Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., prevailed 75-23.

The Associated Press has details of the resolution -- and the less-than thrilled responses from the Bush administration and representatives of Iraq's major political parties.