U.S. lawmakers hammer Bush's new Iraq plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Thursday hammered President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, leaving the White House increasingly isolated over deepening American involvement in the unpopular war.

Some of Bush's fellow Republicans joined newly empowered Democrats in voicing skepticism over whether dispatching 21,500 extra troops to help Iraq's beleaguered government regain control of Baghdad would work.

American peace activists vowed to hold thousands of protests and take to the airwaves and the Internet in a campaign to block the planned troop build-up, which they said had fueled a fresh surge of anti-war sentiment.

"It's important for our citizens to understand that as tempting as it might be, to understand the consequences of leaving before the job is done," Bush told army personnel and their families in Fort Benning, Georgia, a day after unveiling his revised Iraq strategy.

Grilled by lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted that Bush's plan would put more pressure on Iraqis to take over their own security, something that was vital to any eventual U.S. pullback.

Democrats who want a phased withdrawal from Iraq to start in four to six months were unswayed, and quickly lambasted Bush's push for additional forces.

As Rice appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, its Democratic chairman offered a critical view of Bush's plan. "I believe it's a tragic mistake," said Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, a 2008 presidential candidate.

Signaling widening cracks within Bush's own Republican Party over his Iraq policy, not a single committee member spoke out in his support, and a few offered pointed criticism.

"This speech given last night by this president represents the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam if it's carried out," said Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, also a potential 2008 White House contender.

'MONTHS NOT YEARS' FOR TROOP INCREASES

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he did not know how long additional troops would stay in Iraq but he thought it would be "a matter of months, not 18 months or two years."

"We clearly will know ... within a couple of months or so whether this strategy is beginning to bear fruit," he told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.