Democrats Won't Force War Vote

One of those 2008 targets, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said that despite the pressure she is determined to challenge the war on her own terms. The moderate Republican voted with Democrats to allow the withdrawal debate to proceed because "I felt it was important to have an up-or-down vote." But Collins said she holds "grave reservations" that "an abrupt withdrawal" could produce "dire consequences."

Collins and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) are co-sponsors of a proposal to narrow the military's role in Iraq to specific missions such as training Iraqi security forces and counterterrorism activities, while leading to a gradual withdrawal. She had hoped for a vote in the coming days but said Reid's decision means the measure's fate is unclear.

"I think one of the messages that the voters sent last fall that Congress has not heeded is that they're tired of partisan gridlock. They want us to work together, and they want us to get things done," Collins said.

Also sidelined was a plan from Sens. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to use the Iraq Study Group's 79 recommendations as a blueprint for ending the war. The effort started soon after the report was issued in December, said Salazar, a low-key freshman who consulted closely with former congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) and other study group members in drafting and promoting the measure.

Salazar and Alexander have rounded up eight Democratic and six Republican co-sponsors; Salazar was talking with two more Republicans about signing on when Reid pulled the plug. The co-sponsors included Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), a staunch war supporter who has grown impatient with Bush's determination to wait until September for an assessment from Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker on military and political progress in Iraq, before deciding on the mission's next phase.

The proposal does not include the stringent withdrawal terms that Democratic leaders sought.

Domenici said that the bill was gaining momentum and would probably have gathered 25 co-sponsors by next week, assuming that other Iraq-related amendments had failed. "It might have had a chance if given enough time," he said, blaming Reid for refusing to negotiate.

Alexander went further in his criticism, warning that the theatrics of the all-night debate had discouraged GOP senators who oppose the current Iraq strategy from joining Democrats on alternatives. The result, he said, is a solid majority of the Senate opposed to Bush's handling of the war but unable to reach a compromise.

"Harry Reid needs to play less politics, and the president needs to be more flexible," Alexander said.

Other Republicans were more sympathetic to Reid.

"He recognizes that Iraq is the major issue that brought Democrats into a majority in both houses," said Sen. Richard G. Lugar (Ind.), one of the GOP's most prominent foreign policy voices, who co-sponsored a proposal with Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) to compel Bush to draw up contingency plans for the Iraq mission. "That constituency is unsatisfied and restive, and therefore politically this becomes the top priority by quite a distance."

Staff writer Elizabeth Williamson contributed to this report.