On Iraq war, bipartisan tack afoot

Even with public sentiment strongly against the war, there are risks for lawmakers on both sides considering a compromise. For Republicans, it means a break with the Bush White House – and the GOP primary voters who still support his conduct of the war. In comments to the troops at the Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq on Monday, Mr. Bush said that decisions about troop levels would be made by US military commanders assessing conditions on the ground – "not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media."

For Democrats, dropping an end date for a US withdrawal from Iraq means a rift with the party's antiwar base, who want their leaders in Congress to force a quick exit from that war.

At issue in the hearings and votes this week is whether members on both sides of the aisle can broaden the terms of the debate beyond party lines. In an opening statement at the first of these hearings Tuesday, Sen. Richard Lugar (R) of Indiana said that the Iraq debate had been "afflicted by partisan calculation."

"It will not serve US interests or sound policy-making if we focus on partisan oversimplifications or if our debate is constrained to the binary choice between surge and withdrawal," he said. Instead, Congress should be pressuring the Bush administration to plan for the next phase of US involvement in Iraq. "Regardless of what Iraq strategy is adopted, it must be sustainable, and it cannot be disassociated from the rest of US national security goals and obligations," he said.

Picking up that theme, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said that he favored "at least some level of bipartisan agreement that we need a long-term deployment somewhere in the Middle East, in the future, for two reasons: Al Qaeda and Iran."

On the House side, six Republicans and five Democrats called on their leaders this week to "put an end to the political infighting" and "allow the House to unite behind a bipartisan strategy to stabilize the country and bring our troops home." Republicans signing the letter include Pennsylvania Reps. Phil English, Jim Gerlach, and Charlie Dent, along with Rep. Michael Castle of Delaware, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, and Tom Petri of Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, most lawmakers are waiting to hear from General Petraeus next week – and watching for new moves toward political reconciliation in Iraq. "The purpose of the military surge was to give Iraqis political breathing room to make a political settlement," says Sen. Carl Levin (D) of Michigan, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. "They haven't yet."

If the Iraqi government drafts a political compromise that could bring back disaffected Sunnis, "that would bring some votes, but not mine," he says.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid says that he is within two Republican votes of passing an amendment first proposed by Sen. Jim Webb (D) of Virginia that limits the president's ability to quickly redeploy US forces in Iraq. "He is talking to Republicans to gauge their interest, but we haven't seen much movement yet," says Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senator Reid.

Page: 1 | 2