Senate rejects antiwar proposal

WASHINGTON -- In an ominous sign for the Democratic legislative campaign to end the war in Iraq, the Senate yesterday rejected a resolution that would have required President Bush to begin withdrawing US combat troops 120 days after it was enacted.

Two Democrats joined all but one Republican to reject the measure, 50-48, marking the third time in the last six weeks that an antiwar resolution has foundered in the closely divided Senate.

But the vote -- the first in either chamber that would have forced a withdrawal from the unpopular war -- also underscores how much congressional support for the war has eroded in the four years since the invasion.

The White House has repeatedly indicated that Bush would veto any measure that restricts his ability to conduct the war in Iraq. And yesterday, a spokeswoman touted the resolution's defeat and issued a warning to House Democrats pushing their own withdrawal plan.

"We hope the leaders in the House have paid close attention to what just took place in the upper chamber," spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said in a statement. "Now is not the time for divisive legislation aimed at scoring political points at home."

The veto threats -- and the setback in the Senate -- have not deterred Democrats in the House. They charged ahead with their plans, pushing a bill yesterday through a key committee that would force a withdrawal of most US forces by next summer.

After a testy, fiercely partisan hearing, the House Appropriations Committee voted nearly along party lines to attach the withdrawal plan to an emergency war spending bill that the Bush administration needs in order to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Next week, members of the House will have a choice," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, after the committee acted. "Vote to continue the president's open-ended commitment to a war without end or vote to responsibly redeploy our troops."

The historic Democratic drive to force the White House to end the war has always faced a bigger challenge in the Senate, where Democrats have only a slim majority. That was dramatically underscored yesterday.

The resolution, written by Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, mandated that the president begin "phased redeployment" of US forces from Iraq no later than 120 days after enactment. And it set a "goal" of March 31, 2008, to complete the withdrawal, allowing some US forces to remain in Iraq to train Iraqi forces, conduct "targeted counter-terrorism operations," and protect American personnel and facilities.

Over two days of debate, Reid and other Democrats billed the measure as an attempt to rescue the country from the Bush administration's failed policies in Iraq.

But Democrats won the backing of only one Republican: Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, who faces a tough reelection campaign next year. Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, as well as Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman, voted with the GOP.

Tim Johnson, a Democrat from South Dakota who is recuperating from brain surgery, was absent. Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain of Arizona, was campaigning in Iowa and missed the vote.