Democrats Reject General's Iraq Plan

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., right, listens as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., left, speaks to reporters after their meeting with President Bush regarding Iraq at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (Charles Dharapak - AP)

WASHINGTON -- A day before President Bush's war address, Senate Democrats rejected a four-star general's recommendation to keep some 130,000 troops in Iraq through next summer and sought legislation that would limit the mission of U.S. forces.

Their proposal was not expected to set a deadline to end the war, as many Democrats want, but restrict troops to narrow objectives: training Iraq's military and police, protecting U.S. assets and fighting terrorists, Democratic party officials told The Associated Press.

The goal is to attract enough Republicans to break the 60-vote threshold in the Senate needed to end a filibuster. Democrats have proved unable to do that since they took control of Congress eight months ago.

"I call on the Senate Republicans to not walk lockstep as they have with the president for years in this war," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said at a news conference. "It's time to change. It's the president's war. At this point it also appears clear it's also the Senate Republicans' war."

Democrats struggled to regain momentum in the war debate after two days of testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Petraeus said the 30,000 troop buildup begun this year had yielded some gains and needed more time. He recommended slowly reversing the buildup, drawing down about 5,500 soldiers and Marines by year's end and aiming for a force of 130,000 next summer.

Reid and other Democrats said that proposal does not go far enough.

"It creates and provides an illusion of change in an effort to take the wind out of the sails of those of us who want to truly change course in Iraq," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

In a bold challenge to Petraeus' assessment, Reid said the "situation on the ground in Iraq has not changed at all." He later acknowledged gains in Anbar province, "but it's like the big balloon that you push on one side and it comes out someplace else."

Petraeus' assessment inflamed Democrats, but assuaged many Republicans. It did lead to tough questions from several Republican skeptics, including Sens. John Warner of Virginia and Susan Collins of Maine, but most GOP lawmakers said they were reluctant to impose a firm timetable.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., seen as another potential swing vote, said he was working with Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., on legislation that would put Petraeus' recommendations into law.

Absent a new political climate, Democrats are in a tough position: They can continue to insist on a hardline position and fail, letting weeks go by without passing anti-war legislation, or they soften their stance.