by David Lightman

Sens. Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph I. Lieberman voted the same way this morning on whether or not U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq--but for very different reasons.

By a 47 to 47 vote, 13 votes short of the number needed to cut off debate, the Senate blocked a measure that would have brought most troops home within nine months. Both Connecticut senators oppose the measure. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Carl Levin, (D-Mich.), and Jack Reed, (D-R.I.), was nearly identical to a similar measure rejected earlier this year.

Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, has been a consistent opponent of firm timelines for withdrawal. Dodd, a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, has been an ardent advocate of troop withdrawals, but said he simply could not go along with this measure.

He had backed the Levin-Reed measure in a July vote, but a series of events, such as the continuing bloodshed in Iraq and the Sept. 11 testimony of Gen. David H. Petraeus saying he could not say if the war has made the United States safer, has convinced Dodd stronger action is needed.

But this time, Dodd said, "This bill will not stop this president from continuing to wage this war, while a firm deadline is necessary, it is not sufficient without it also being enforceable through the power of the purse."

And, he figured, "given this president's loyalty to his own failed policy, it is clear to me that anything short of a firm, enforceable deadline that forces his hand will only serve to perpetuate our involvement in this civil war."

As a result, Dodd said, "I will only vote to fully fund the complete redeployment of our troops out of Iraq."

Dodd's opponents for the nomination, though, thought otherwise. Voting for the Levin-Reed proposal were Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Barack Obama of Illinois and Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware.

Obama called the measure "a responsible course to bring our troops out of Iraq, with a hard date to begin our drawdown and a hard date to complete it….It's time to leave behind the political posturing so that we can end this war.