Democrats step up pressure on Bush troop buildup
(Adds Pelosi comments, paragraphs 10-11)
By Richard Cowan and David Alexander
WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Democrats stepped up pressure on Thursday for President George W. Bush to halt his Iraq troop buildup, and the president warned Congress against undercutting his military strategy.
Rep. John Murtha, a war critic who chairs the House of Representatives panel that oversees military spending, said he planned to restrict war funding in a way that would effectively stop the 21,500 U.S. troop buildup, and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid scheduled a new vote to confront Bush over Iraq.
The political maneuvering came as a new poll showed public support for the Iraq war continuing to fall, with 53 percent of Americans believing the United States should bring its troops home as soon as possible, a five percentage point jump in one month and the highest level since the war began.
Bush, in an address in Washington, warned U.S. lawmakers against taking action that would restrict his $93.4 billion emergency troop funding measure.
"Our men and women in uniform are counting on their elected leaders to provide them with the support they need to accomplish their mission," he said. "Republicans and Democrats have a responsibility to give our troops the resources they need."
With opposition to the Iraq war beginning to run deep in Congress, Democrats now in control of the House of Representatives and Senate are trying to assert their power of the purse in ways that they think could diminish the U.S. military involvement, while also providing funds to support troops already there.
Murtha hopes to choke off the 4-year-old war in Iraq by placing four conditions on combat funds through Sept. 30. "We're trying to force a redeployment not by taking money away, by redirecting money," the Pennsylvania Democrat said.
The Pentagon would have to certify that troops being sent to Iraq are "fully combat ready" with training and equipment; troops must have at least one year at home between combat deployments; combat assignments could not be extended beyond one year, and a "stop-loss" program forcing soldiers to extend their enlistment periods would be prohibited.
"They won't be able to continue. They won't be able to do the deployment. They won't have the equipment, they don't have the training and they won't be able to do the work," Murtha said.
SENATE TO MEET SATURDAY
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, told a small group of reporters that no final decision has been made on binding legislation, The Washington Post reported in its Friday editions. But she backed key provisions advanced by Murtha, including rest and training requirements, the newspaper said.
Separately, Pelosi endorsed legislation that would require Bush to seek congressional authorization before any military strike on Iran, the Post reported.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, blasted Murtha's proposals.
"While American troops are fighting radical Islamic terrorists thousands of miles away, it is unthinkable that the United States Congress would move to discredit their mission, cut off their reinforcements and deny them the resources they need to succeed and return home safely," Boehner said.
The House was expected to approve a resolution on Friday opposing Bush's 21,500-troop increase for Iraq. The House took up the measure, which does not force Bush to act, after the Senate failed in its initial effort to bring a similar resolution up for debate.
Reid announced he was scheduling an unusual Saturday Senate vote on whether to begin debate on the resolution.
But Senate Republicans said they would continue to oppose Democratic efforts unless votes on their proposals were allowed. (Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Steve Holland)
