Dems Face Uphill Battle on Troop Withdrawals

By Kathy Kiely

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats are pressing ahead with efforts to set deadlines for troop withdrawals from Iraq even though the effort is certain to be foiled — by a presidential veto if not by internal dissension.

On both sides of the Capitol on Thursday, senior Democrats were waging uphill battles to oppose President Bush’s planned increase of troop levels in Iraq:

*House Democratic leaders postponed a vote until today on a $124 billion bill for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq conditional on combat troops being pulled out by September 2008 at the latest. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., acknowledged earlier in the week that supporters of the measure were still short of the 218 votes they need for passage.

*The Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., a longtime Iraq war opponent, sent to the Senate floor its version of the emergency funding bill with a March 2008 deadline for combat troop withdrawal. But just last week, the Senate rejected an effort to begin withdrawing troops on a 50-48 vote.

Democrats’ first challenge in trying to change the president’s Iraq strategy lies in holding together their own ranks. The approach that party leaders are backing — providing additional funding for troops but setting a deadline for their withdrawal — is opposed by some Democratic centrists, who think it goes too far, and by liberals, who think it doesn’t go far enough.

“The anti-war wing of the Democratic caucus feels this is a capitulation,” said Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, an opponent of the war who said she is “grudgingly” backing the bill as the best the Democrats can pass. More conservative members of the party “didn’t want a deadline,” she said.

One of those Democratic conservatives, Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi, said the proposed deadline for troop withdrawal “gives me serious heartburn.”

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said he can’t support the military funding bill either, but his reasons are different. “We should be working to end the war now, not giving it another two years,” he said.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., appeared to welcome the opportunity to suffer defeat at the hands of the Republicans on the troop deadline issue. He said he would make no effort to stop Republicans from trying to strip the withdrawal date from the bill. “If they’ve got the votes to do that, let them try,” Reid said.

One reason the Democrats are so eager for a fight they’re likely to lose: Their short-term setback could yield long-term political gains.

Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said it’s important for Democrats to work to oppose Iraq, even if their efforts are doomed.

“For the Democratic base, this is the No. 1 issue that motivated them to vote,” she said. Win or lose, there’s a political payoff in the Iraq fight for Democrats, she said, because “it puts people on record for the 2008 elections.”

“The people in this country are ahead of the politicians,” said Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass.

At some point soon, a compromise will have to be reached. The emergency funding is essential for military operations. The administration has said it needs the money by spring. Even Kaptur, a longtime opponent of the war, said she doesn’t want to leave troops without funds. If Congress can’t pass a bill, or passes one the president can’t sign, “we’ll have to go back to the drawing board,” she said. (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.