Senators Introduce Resolution Opposing Bush War Plan

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats backed by a Republican war critic introduced a resolution Wednesday opposing a White House plan to increase troop levels in Iraq by 21,500, the first salvo in what promises to be a sustained political fight over the way forward in the war.

The non-binding resolution stops short of cutting off funding for the troop increase or calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq. It would serve instead as a symbolic marker meant to demonstrate thin political support for any increase in troops and calling for "an expedited timeline" for letting Iraqis deal with the sectarian bloodshed unleashed by the war and bringing American troops home.

"Deepening America's military involvement in Iraq by escalating our troop presence is a mistake," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., who called plans for increasing troops "way off course."

Biden co-sponsored the resolution along with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.

"I will do everything I can to stop the president's policy," Hagel told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference. "I think it is dangerously irresponsible."

Fellow Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine later said she would support the resolution.

White House spokesman Tony Snow dismissed the resolution, saying Bush believes that increasing U.S. force levels is the best way to combat insurgent violence in Iraq and he intends to carry out the troop surge.

"The president has obligations as commander-in-chief, and he will go ahead and execute them," Snow told reporters.

He also served notice that the administration will seek to exact a political price for those who back the resolution by linking such dissent to a wavering of support to Iraqis and Americans in harm's way.

"What signal does it send to the Iraqis in terms of steadfastness?" asked Snow. "Does it make the troops feel better about their support from the United States?"

It wasn't clear how soon the full Senate might take up the resolution, which is expected to get a hearing before the foreign relations committee next week. A similar resolution is expected to be introduced in the House.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has threatened to organize a filibuster to block such a resolution. Breaking a Senate filibuster requires 60 votes: under the current math, Democrats would need full solidarity and the help of at least 10 Republicans to end a filibuster on this issue. Eight Republicans have so far said they oppose sending more troops to Iraq. One Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, Joseph Lieberman on Connecticut, supports the president's plan.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., all three of whom are potential presidential candidates, called for a cap on the number of troops in Iraq, with a requirement that Bush seek congressional approval for any plans to exceed specific limits. Obama said he would introduce legislation to cap troop levels and to urge a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Snow said such legislation threatens to restrict Bush and the Pentagon in prosecuting the war.

"It binds the hands of the commander-in-chief and also the generals," said Snow. "To tie one's hand in a time of war is a pretty extreme move."

Senate Democrats are overwhelmingly opposed to an increase in troop levels in Iraq, where there are currently about 137,000 U.S. troops and more than 3,000 Americans have died since Bush launched an invasion in March, 2003.

"To continue to put American lives in the middle of a clearly defined sectarian civil war is wrong," said Hagel. "It will not change things. We've been there four years. We've expended a tremendous amount of American blood and treasure."