As Iraq Exit Plan Arrives, Democrats' Rift Remains

"I don't know if it's the first big test for her, but it certainly is a big test," said Rep. Dennis Moore (Kan.), a Blue Dog leader.

Under the deal, to be formally drafted by the Appropriations Committee next week, Congress would institute the same tough benchmarks for the Iraqi government that Bush detailed in a national address in January. Under those benchmarks, the Iraqi government would have to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November, and adopt and implement oil-revenue-sharing legislation.

The government would have to spend $10 billion of Iraq's money on job-creating reconstruction and infrastructure projects; hold provincial elections this year; liberalize laws that purged Baath Party members from the government; and establish a fairer process for amending the Iraqi constitution. Bush would have to certify the benchmarks are met by year's end. If not, troops would begin leaving Iraq next spring, with all troops out of combat by the fall, a senior Democratic aide said.

The pot would be sweetened with extra money for military and veterans' health care, the war in Afghanistan, troop training and equipment, and new funds for Hurricane Katrina relief. The specifics include $450 million for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and another $450 million for traumatic brain injuries, said Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), an Appropriations Committee member.

With that money, Moran said, some Republicans will have to join the Democrats. "We will have the votes," Moran said. "We have to join together here, and I think it will pass quite easily."

But skepticism remains, especially among Democrats from conservative districts.

"It's still micromanaging the war," Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) said.

Conservative Democrats fear the charge, still lodged by some Vietnam veterans, that that war could have been won had the politicians not intervened. More than anything else, many Democrats want to leave Bush responsible for ending the war he started.

"The war is the issue, but it's the president's issue, not ours," Boren said.

Last night, six prominent liberal Democrats issued a statement that said: "We have had a constructive dialogue with members of our party's leadership regarding the upcoming supplemental debate. However, at this time, we have not reached any final agreement."

Woolsey is leading a brewing revolt among dozens of Democrats who say they will vote only for a war spending bill that unambiguously ends the war. House leaders, cognizant of conservative concerns, had moved to temper another element of the proposal they worked out -- troop-deployment restrictions, pushed by Murtha, that Bush could waive if it is in "the national interest." But in so doing, they stoked a revolt on the left, with the leaders of that revolt being Pelosi loyalists, who say on this issue they cannot be swayed by the speaker's personal appeals.

In the face of such intransigence, Democratic leaders hope to quell the revolt by granting liberals a vote on an amendment to end the war immediately. Hoyer said the leaders hope liberals will then support final passage of the spending bill, even if their amendment is defeated.

But there are no guarantees. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a co-chairwoman of the Out of Iraq Caucus, said no deal has been struck, although negotiations continue. Murtha and other Pelosi loyalists worked Waters especially hard because if she is swayed, other liberals will follow.

Pelosi's allies say that at the end of the day, she will bring her caucus into line. There is simply too much at stake, said Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), a Blue Dog close to the speaker. "Don't underestimate Nancy Pelosi," he said.