Senate Democrats press to reduce troops in Iraq

By Vicki Allen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Democrats presented two plans
for winding down U.S. involvement in Iraq on Monday, one to
pull out U.S. combat forces by July 2007 and another to begin
withdrawing this year without a deadline for completion.

With an election looming in November, Republicans branded
the two plans as defeatist and evidence of Democratic disarray.
The Senate was to debate the amendments on Tuesday in the
annual defense policies bill.

“Three and a half years into the conflict, we should tell
the Iraqis that the American security blanket is not
permanent,” said Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on
the Armed Services Committee.

The House of Representatives and Senate have debated Iraq
in often harsh terms this month. Republicans sought to depict
Democrats as weak on terrorism, and Democrats condemned
President George W. Bush’s policies that they said have caused
chaos in Iraq, detracted from the fight against al Qaeda and
drained U.S. resources.

Levin offered a nonbinding resolution saying Bush should
start withdrawing an unspecified number of U.S. forces this
year and give Congress a plan for the continued withdrawal.

Levin’s measure had support from most Senate Democrats, who
shied away from setting a deadline for a pullout out of fear of
a full-scale Iraqi civil war.

There are about 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and the
conflict has caused more than 2,500 U.S. military deaths.

Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Russell Feingold of
Wisconsin, both eyeing presidential runs, pushed an amendment
requiring that U.S. combat troops be out by July 2007. That was
modified from Kerry’s amendment calling for withdrawal by the
end of 2006, which the Senate rejected last week when
Republicans forced a vote.

In a statement, Kerry and Feingold said a deadline “gives
Iraqis the best chance for stability and self-government” and
“allows us to begin refocusing on the true threats that face
our country.”

Both Democratic plans provide that U.S. personnel training
Iraqi forces, those conducting counter-terrorist operations and
other specialized forces could remain in Iraq.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican,
blasted the Levin measure as a “cut and run” policy that
“threatens our national security and poses unacceptable risks
to Americans.”

Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican who chairs the
Armed Services Committee, said he did not support the Levin
amendment “in this form,” and was considering an alternative.

Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, who crafted the
resolution with Levin, said the White House has used the debate
to attack Democrats. “This may be a way to divide the country,
but it’s not a strategy for success in Iraq,” he said.

(additional reporting by Richard Cowan)