US Senate Republican pushes Iraq alternative
Source: Reuters
(New story; changes dateline) By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A leading Senate Republican vowed on Thursday to push for a vote on his measure criticizing President George W. Bush's overall plan to boost U.S. troops in Iraq, but backing Bush's call for more troops in the western Anbar province. As lawmakers prepared to confront Bush on Iraq, the resolution by Virginia Sen. John Warner might deflect a tougher measure condemning all of Bush's planned troop increase that passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. That measure, largely backed by Democrats, flatly opposed Bush's plan to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to Baghdad and Anbar province, declaring this was not in the "national interest." Warner's more nuanced proposal acknowledges Bush as commander-in-chief, but says lawmakers disagree with his new Iraq plan, apart from the section about Anbar which is a center of the Sunni insurgency. It urges the president to think of alternatives. In Anbar "we are engaged with al-Qaeda," Warner said. But in Baghdad, he said Bush was planning to put more U.S. troops in the middle of a sectarian battle. Votes on either or both proposals could come next week. Timing will be up to Democrats, who have 51 senators to Republicans' 49. Both resolutions are nonbinding, but would mark the strongest congressional criticism of Bush's war policies since lawmakers voted in 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq. "ASSERTIVE" ADDRESS The White House meanwhile expressed hope that a vow by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday to crack down on militants would help soothe U.S. lawmakers' concerns. Bush spokesman Tony Snow said the administration welcomed what he called an "assertive" address. Bush spoke to Congress this week and implored lawmakers to give his strategy a chance. But on Capitol Hill, even some Bush defenders were seeking ways to distance themselves from possible failure in Iraq. A longtime supporter of the Iraq war who chaired the Armed Services Committee until Republicans lost control of the Senate in November elections, Warner's decision to join critics of Bush's war plan was a major setback for the White House. But Warner rebuffed overtures from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat who co-sponsored the tougher resolution and wanted to negotiate with Warner on a possible consensus measure. "Look, Mr. President, in Anbar, get whatever allocation (of troops) you think is necessary," Warner told reporters, explaining his proposal. "Then we urge you to look at every means possible to reduce the number of troops." Aides said Warner's plan had ten sponsors -- six Democrats and four Republicans. Biden's had 17 co-sponsors but only two were Republicans. Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, a presidential hopeful and supporter of Bush's plan to add troops, said he was writing an alternative resolution that would stress setting benchmarks for the Iraqi government. McCain gave no details, but the same approach was proposed last week by House of Representatives Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. Boehner said the United States should set political and military targets for Iraqis to meet -- and Bush should report to a panel of Congress on progress. "We are willing to do more, but we are expecting Iraqis to do a lot more," Boehner said on Thursday at a Republican retreat in Maryland. (Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria in Kansas City, Missouri, and Thomas Ferraro in Cambridge, Maryland)
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