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WASHINGTON: Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives are backing away from a plan to scale back U.S. involvement in the Iraq war by withholding money in the budget, Congress' most powerful tool.
Instead, party officials said Tuesday, leaders are weighing a proposal that would attempt to embarrass President George W. Bush into abandoning his war strategy. Under a plan discussed privately, Democrats probably would grant Bush's entire $93.4 billion (€70.6 billion) request for war spending this year but require that any troops sent into battle that do not meet certain standards or lack appropriate equipment receive a presidential waiver and that Congress be notified of the shortcoming.
The compromise is an attempt to please members who want to end the war immediately by cutting funding and others who do not want to appear as though Democrats are turning their back on the troops.
"I think it's a responsible approach," said Chet Edwards, a Democratic lawmaker from Bush's state, Texas.
Democratic leaders also were considering adding money to help wounded troops, improve health care for veterans and speed financial assistance for hurricane-damaged communities.
The draft proposal, pitched to party members in a private caucus meeting, is considered by Democrats to be the next step in challenging the president's Iraq war policy. Emboldened by the Nov. 7 elections, House Democrats this month pushed through a nonbinding resolution that denounced Bush's decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq to join the some 130,000 already there.
The next step has been difficult for a party divided on how far to go to end the war. Many Democrats favor the initial proposal by their colleague Rep. John Murtha to withhold money for war missions unless troops meet certain standards.
For example, Murtha wants the military to adhere to its own goal of not extending a unit's combat tour beyond a year and allowing troops another full year before going back. Murtha, a Vietnam War veteran, also wanted the military to enforce its own traditional training and readiness requirements, such as training with the same equipment they would use in combat.
With the war reaching its fourth anniversary next month, military officials have said these goals have become unrealistic with the force stretched thin by repeated deployments.
The House Democrats' plan brought a sharp response from Brian Kennedy, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio.
"If this is the Democrats' last ditch effort to appease the ultraliberal wing of their party while appearing to support the troops at the same time, I don't think they are going to convince either one of any commitment whatsoever," Kennedy said. "This appears to be political posturing at its worst and yet another attempt to undermine the mission of our troops in harm's way. The American people are going to see right through it."
The latest proposal is intended to put the pressure on Bush; if troops are sent into battle without meeting the military's prewar standards for battle, he would have to sign a waiver and notify Congress.
Democrats disagree whether the latest proposal goes far enough.
If "we vote for the supplemental, I believe we own the war," said Representative Lynn Woolsey, one of a group of liberal Democrats pushing for an immediate end to the war.
Bush "hasn't to date done anything we've asked him to do, so why we would think he would do anything in the future is beyond me," Woolsey said of the reporting requirements.
Representative Elijah Cummings called the new plan "a weakened version of what it was" that could still allow troops to be sent into combat without the training and equipment they needed.
Whether the Senate would support the latest plan is unclear. Several crucial Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, are cool to the idea of restricting money for the war but have said they want binding legislation to force a drawdown of troops.
A group of senior Senate Democrats is pushing to repeal the 2002 measure authorizing the war and pass a new resolution restricting the mission and ordering troop withdrawals to begin by this summer.
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