Democrats Ramp Up Pressure, as Polls Show Americans Behind Them

By Richard Cowan and David Alexander

Reuters

Thursday, February 15, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats stepped up pressure on Thursday for President George W. Bush to halt his Iraq troop buildup, and the president warned Congress against undercutting his military strategy.

Rep. John Murtha, a war critic who chairs the House of Representatives panel that oversees military spending, said he planned to restrict war funding in a way that would effectively stop the 21,500 U.S. troop buildup, and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid scheduled a new vote to confront Bush over Iraq.

The political maneuvering came as a new poll showed public support for the Iraq war continuing to fall, with 53 percent of Americans believing the United States should bring its troops home as soon as possible, a five percentage point jump in one month and the highest level since the war began.

Bush, in an address in Washington, warned U.S. lawmakers against taking action that would restrict his $93.4 billion emergency troop funding measure.

"Our men and women in uniform are counting on their elected leaders to provide them with the support they need to accomplish their mission," he said. "Republicans and Democrats have a responsibility to give our troops the resources they need."

With opposition to the Iraq war beginning to run deep in Congress, Democrats now in control of the House of Representatives and Senate are trying to assert their power of the purse in ways that they think could diminish the U.S. military involvement, while also providing funds to support troops already there.

Murtha hopes to choke off the 4-year-old war in Iraq by placing four conditions on combat funds through September 30. "We're trying to force a redeployment not by taking money away, by redirecting money," the Pennsylvania Democrat said.

The Pentagon would have to certify that troops being sent to Iraq are "fully combat ready" with training and equipment; troops must have at least one year at home between combat deployments; combat assignments could not be extended beyond one year, and a "stop-loss" program forcing soldiers to extend their enlistment periods would be prohibited.

"They won't be able to continue. They won't be able to do the deployment. They won't have the equipment, they don't have the training and they won't be able to do the work," Murtha said.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, blasted Murtha's proposals.

"While American troops are fighting radical Islamic terrorists thousands of miles away, it is unthinkable that the United States Congress would move to discredit their mission, cut off their reinforcements and deny them the resources they need to succeed and return home safely," Boehner said.

The House was expected to approve a resolution on Friday opposing Bush's 21,500-troop increase for Iraq. The House took up the measure, which does not force Bush to act, after the Senate failed in its initial effort to bring a similar resolution up for debate.

Reid announced he was scheduling an unusual Saturday Senate vote on whether to begin debate on the resolution. Congress had been scheduled to take its first recess of the new session beginning on Friday, so the decision would force the Senate to remain in Washington, increasing pressure on senators to act quickly.

But Senate Republicans said they would continue to oppose Democratic efforts unless votes on their proposals were allowed.

A new poll by the Pew Research Center found Americans are increasingly skeptical about success in Iraq, with 47 percent believing the United States is likely to achieve its goals and 46 percent disagreeing. Three months ago 53 percent thought success was probable and 41 percent did not.

The poll was conducted February 7 to February 11 among 1,509 Americans and a margin of error of three percentage points.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Steve Holland)


....and the truth shall set us free.