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White House denies Iraq policy rethink
10.7.2007
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July
10, 2007
WASHINGTON,-- President George W. Bush has no
plans to withdraw troops from Iraq now, the White
House said on Monday, despite increasing pressure
from members of his own Republican party for a
change in war strategy.
But Senate Democrats planned to hold votes on troop
pullouts, hoping to capitalize on Republican
defections to build a congressional majority around
an exit strategy.
"A growing number of Republicans are now speaking
against the failed strategy in Iraq, and that's
good," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"I think we will find the next couple of weeks
whether the Republicans who have said publicly they
think the present course should change are willing
to vote with us," the Nevada Democrat said. |
U.S. President George W. Bush J. Photo:White House |
At least one such Republican said she was willing to
do so. Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, an early critic of
Bush's policy of sending more troops to Iraq this
year, said she was ready to vote for binding
legislation requiring a troop withdrawal.
Starting in Cleveland on Tuesday, Bush plans to lay
out what an aide called "his vision for the
post-surge" in a move to assure Americans that he
too wants to begin withdrawing U.S. troops
eventually, The Washington Post reported in
Tuesday's editions.
Top administration officials also have begun talking
with key Senate Republicans about Bush's view of the
next phase in the war, the report said.
The White House devised the political strategy after
days of intense internal discussion about how to
respond to Republican dissent over Bush's war
policy, the Post said.
On Monday, the White House denied a New York Times
report that debate was intensifying over whether
Bush should try to prevent more Republican
defections by announcing intentions for a gradual
withdrawal of troops from high-casualty Iraqi areas.
"There is no debate right now on withdrawing forces
right now from Iraq," White House spokesman Tony
Snow said.
Following recent calls for a change in strategy by
lawmakers such as Sen. Richard Lugar, the ranking
Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, the Times said officials fear the last
pillars of political support among U.S. Senate
Republicans for Bush's Iraq policy were collapsing.
JULY REPORT
An administration report to Congress due July 15
assessing progress in Iraq is expected to further
fuel the debate.
Administration officials say it will show a mixed
review on progress being made.
The report, expected to be delivered to Congress by
the end of the week, "will present a picture of
satisfactory progress on some benchmarks and not on
others. This is to be expected given the report is a
preliminary snapshot of what are the early stages of
the full surge," a senior administration official
said on condition of anonymity.
Bush has been steadfast against setting deadlines
for withdrawing troops and has warned that
prematurely pulling
forces out of Iraq would hand the enemy a victory
and risk America's security.
He has repeatedly made the point that when
conditions warrant, U.S. troops will be brought
home, Snow said.
"But the idea of trying to make a political judgment
rather than a military judgment about how to have
forces in the field is simply not true," Snow said.
Senate debate on Iraq would be part of work on a
defense policy bill, beginning with a vote, possibly
on Tuesday, on a plan by Virginia Democratic Sen.
Jim Webb to establish minimum rest times between
deployments for troops in Iraq, some of whom have
done several tours of duty.
A vote would follow on a withdrawal plan by Michigan
Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, the Armed Services
Committee chairman. It is expected to require a
reduction of U.S. troops to start soon with a goal
of finishing the drawdown next spring.
Reid acknowledged he did not know whether he had the
votes to overcome Senate procedural hurdles. While
willing to work with Republicans unhappy with the
war, he said he did not want to water down pullout
proposals to a "fig leaf."
Virginia Sen. John Warner, a leading Republican
voice on defense who says Bush's Iraq strategy is
drifting, recommended senators wait at least until
they see the administration's July 15 report on Iraq
required by a recent war funding bill.
Reuters
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