Democrats confront Bush on Iraq troop surge (2nd Roundup)

By Tony Czuczka Jan 17, 2007, 23:05 GMT

Washington - Democrats and a senior senator from President George W Bush's party Wednesday presented a measure opposing a US troop increase in Iraq, squeezing the embattled president over the unpopular war.

The non-binding Senate resolution would symbolically disapprove of Bush's plan to send more than 20,000 more troops to Iraq, but Democrats are also proposing legislation to cap US troop levels.

'This resolution sends a powerful message not only to the president and the American people, but also to the leaders and the people of Iraq, that Congress does not support an escalation of our military presence,' Democratic Senator Carl Levin told reporters.

'It is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq,' the draft says.

Separately, Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd introduced a bill that would require congressional approval for a troop boost, saying the 2002 war authorization by the US Congress 'is no longer relevant.'

Bush, pointing to his constitutional authority as the US military's commander-in-chief, has insisted he will stick with his plan. He can veto any bill from Congress that limits US troop deployments.

The White House criticized Democrats for proposing legal limits on US troops, which currently number about 140,000 in Iraq.

'To tie one's hand in a time of war is a pretty extreme move' and success in Iraq is 'strongly in the national interest' of the US, Bush's spokesman Tony Snow said.

Bush's announcement last week was part of a new US effort to quell sectarian killings. It has ignited opposition in Congress, where the centre-left Democrats control both houses after defeating Bush's Republicans in November elections.

But a rebellion is also growing among Republicans. Senator Chuck Hagel, a longtime Republican critic of the invasion of Iraq, co- sponsored the non-binding resolution unveiled Wednesday.

 'I think it is dangerously irresponsible to continue to put American lives in the middle of a clearly defined, tribal-sectarian civil war,' Hagel said.

Democrats are lobbying Republicans to join the Senate resolution and a similar measure planned in the lower House of Representatives. Democratic leaders reportedly plan to schedule votes shortly before Bush's annual state of the union policy speech set for Tuesday.

Debate over Iraq is heating up as the 2008 presidential campaign is getting under way.

Former US first lady Hillary Clinton, who is widely expected to run for president, joined in the attacks on the Bush administration fresh from a trip to Iraq to meet US soldiers and commanders.

'We should be beginning a phased redeployment of American troops as a way of putting pressure on the Iraqi government,' said Clinton, a US senator for the state of New York.