UPDATE: Senate Democrats fell short  by 8 votes this morning after staging an “all-night debate” to force a vote on withdrawing troops from Iraq.

The measure Senate Democrats want passed calls for troops to begin departing within 120 days. It received 52 “yes” votes, to 47 “no” votes, 8 votes short of the 60 “yes” votes required to pass the motion.

07/17/07  War on THE War : All-Night Debate Over Iraq Policy: The Senate headed towards its first all-night session since 2003 today at 3p.m., as both Democrats and Republicans set up to defend their positions on the war.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declared a plan to keep the Senate in session throughout the night, in a bid to draw more attention to the Republican opposition to withdrawal timelines.

Earlier today the Senate ceremoniously rolled out cots while  Iraq war veterans groups visited key Republican Senators  and Senate Democrats met with anti-war groups such as Americans United for Change and Move.org.

MORE DETAILS AS WE FOLLOW THE DEBATE

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