GOP, Democrats Seek Edge in Iraq Debate

A U.S. Army soldier from the 101st Airborne Division takes cover from sniper fire in Ramadi, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, June 20, 2006. Elsewhere, the U.S. military recovered the bodies of two 101st Airborne Division soldiers missing and reportedly kidnapped, and Iraqi officials said the Americans were first tortured and then killed in a "barbaric" way. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg) (Jacob Silberberg - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Less than five months before congressional elections, Republicans and Democrats maneuvered for political advantage Wednesday as the Senate debated the Iraq war and the future of 127,000 U.S. troops in the war zone.

"Drawdowns must be based on conditions in country, not an arbitrary deadline rooted in our domestic politics," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, deriding Democratic calls for redeployments.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., countered by saying, "It is time to choose what is more important, a strategy to win in Iraq or a strategy for Republicans to win elections here at home." She accused Republicans in charge of Congress of "blindly following" President Bush.

In highly partisan speeches, Republicans and Democrats squared off over Democratic calls to start redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq this year.

Republicans opposed any timeline. They said it would risk all-out civil war and cripple the Iraqi government just as democracy is taking hold.

"Withdrawing our forces prior to the Iraqis being able to defend themselves would encourage terrorism, embolden al-Qaida and threaten American security," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va.

Added Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas: "The policy of retreat and defeatism, and simply giving up, is not one that serves our nation well."

Democrats contended that Bush has failed to articulate a plan for the way ahead in Iraq. They said it is time for troops to start coming home and for Congress to send a clear signal that the U.S. presence is not indefinite.

"We can't go on with an open-ended commitment," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said, "Staying the course is not an acceptable strategy when the course is a failed course."

With some Democrats saying the decision to go to war was a mistake, Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., tried to dispel arguments by Democratic lawmakers that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.

Santorum and Hoekstra released a newly declassified military intelligence report that said coalition forces have found 500 munitions in Iraq that contained degraded sarin or mustard nerve agents, produced before the 1991 Gulf War.

But a defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the weapons were not considered likely to be dangerous because of their age. Also, Democrats said a lengthy 2005 report from the top U.S. weapons inspector contemplated that such munitions would be found.