By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate began debating an Iraq war bill on Tuesday that would force the Bush administration to begin withdrawing troops within four months, an election-year measure that supporters privately acknowledge will fail.

"All is not calm in Iraq, as the (Bush) administration would have you believe," Sen. Russ Feingold said as he kicked off debate on the bill, which is likely to come to a vote this week.

The Wisconsin Democrat, who offered similar legislation late last year that was overwhelmingly defeated, added, "The (military) surge has not brought Iraq any closer to legitimate political reconciliation on the national level."

The 5-year-old war has killed nearly 4,000 U.S. troops and more than 80,000 Iraqis.

Consistent with its opposition to any legislation setting timetables for withdrawing troops from Iraq, the White House was quick to denounce the bill.

The measure would "forfeit the successes of the president's new strategy in Iraq" and "impose an artificial timeline" on withdrawing troops, the White House said in a statement.

If the bill is passed by Congress, President George W. Bush would veto it, the statement added.

But passage is unlikely. Some Democrats, speaking anonymously, said there could be fewer than 30 votes for the measure in the 100-member Senate.

Feingold's bill would require a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops within four months of enactment. Unlike a previous version, he said, it sets no end date for the withdrawal.

After the 120 days, U.S. funds could be used not for combat but for a narrow mission of targeting al Qaeda operations, providing security for U.S. personnel and infrastructure, training Iraqi security forces and continuing the redeployment from Iraq.

REPUBLICANS WELCOME DEBATE

Despite their opposition, Senate Republicans said they welcomed the chance to showcase recent progress in Iraq stemming from last year's troop buildup.

The debate, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said, "would give us a chance to talk about the extraordinary progress that's been made in Iraq over the last six months, not only on the military side, but also with civilian reconciliation beginning to finally take hold in the country."

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, lashed out at Feingold's bill: "The resolution before us offers the same familiar prescription for retreat and surrender."

The Iraq war and the faltering U.S. economy promise to be two prominent issues in November's presidential and congressional elections. Democrats and Republicans are jockeying for the upper hand in the debate.

Lately, Republicans have been pointing to some opinion polls showing rising U.S. public support for Bush's attempt to secure Baghdad and give political leaders there more time to resolve deep divisions.

But Democrats countered that voters are eager for an end to the half-trillion-dollar war and the government debt it is creating while domestic initiatives are underfunded.

"I don't know what would be a better time to bring this up than bring it up now, when we're in the throes of an economic crisis that this country has seen very rarely," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. (Editing by David Alexander and Mohammad Zargham)

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