Democrats Prepare for Another Funding Battle

Such sentiment is only being compounded by Democratic presidential candidates who are reveling in their opposition to the war funding bill as they appeal to core Democratic voters. Former senator John Edwards (N.C.) established a Web site, http://www.supportthetroopsendthewar.com, to encourage voters to mobilize during Memorial Day weekend.

And when Republicans hit front-running Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) for their votes against the war spending bill, the Democrats hit right back.

"Governor Romney and Senator McCain are still supporting a war that has cost us thousands of lives, made us less safe in the world, and resulted in a resurgence of al-Qaeda," Obama said, after Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and the Republican National Committee all accused him of abandoning the troops. "It is time to end this war."

Eager to address other issues, such as soaring energy prices, and to complete unfinished business on homeland security and ethics bills, House leaders hope to give Iraq a rest. Chairman John P. Murtha (Pa.) of the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense plans to strip Iraq issues from the 2008 defense spending bill when it comes up in July and prepare a separate war funding measure for consideration in September, when Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, is to report to Congress on the war's progress.

But the Senate will return to the war in late June, when it is scheduled to take up a defense policy bill. The Armed Services Committee released the legislation Friday, and although it includes no Iraq withdrawal language, Chairman Carl M. Levin (Mich.) said Democrats would seek to require troops to begin leaving within 120 days of the bill's passage

"The Iraqi leaders will realize that their future is in their hands only when they are forced into that recognition," Levin said.

Another Senate war bill, expected to be introduced early next month, would adopt the Iraq Study Group recommendations as official policy. The group was headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and former congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.).

The legislation, which has gained bipartisan backing, would establish conditions for a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq and require specific steps to be taken by the Iraqi government. The list is similar to the benchmarks in the funding bill, but more detailed in its requirements.

Co-sponsors include Democrats Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Ken Salazar (Colo.) and Republicans Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and John E. Sununu (N.H.). Bush spoke favorably last week of the study group report after more or less ignoring it when it was released in December. He said then that he views the report as a framework for finding common ground with Democrats, and praised a provision that would shift U.S. forces to more of a training role.