The folly of the "partition" vote

Partition may be a very popular vote in the US Senate (in a non-binding, "I have an answer, but I'm not going to force it on anybody" kind of way,) but the Iraqis don't want it.

The Iraqi government on Friday firmly rejected a Bosnia-style plan approved by the US Senate to divide Iraq on ethnic and religious lines, saying Iraqis will themselves decide their future.

The regional powers don't want it.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Friday condemned the resolution, saying it would complicate matters further in the war-torn country....

The GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

And, frankly, there's no mechanism by which the US could attempt to impose such a solution.

This vote is worse than meaningless in that it allows the "bubble Republicans" to release some of the election pressure they're feeling. It gives them a political out which makes it easier to continue voting for the war.