Washington, February 16, 2007 - House Democrats are planning to follow a vote today on a symbolic resolution rejecting President George W. Bush's troop buildup with legislation aimed at directly challenging any additional deployments to Iraq as per Bloomberg.

The non binding resolution to be voted on this afternoon pledges support for U.S. personnel serving ``bravely and honorably in Iraq'' while saying Congress ``disapproves'' of Bush's plan to add more than 20,000 troops to the estimated 132,000 who are trying to curb sectarian violence in Iraq.

The resolution is a preliminary step, according to Democrats such as John Murtha of Pennsylvania, toward adding provisions to spending legislation that will force the administration to cancel the troop increase and begin withdrawing or redeploying U.S. forces in Iraq.

``We have to be careful that people don't think this is the vote,'' Murtha said yesterday in a videotaped message on a Web site operated by the group MoveCongress.org. ``The real vote will come on the legislation we're putting together.''

Murtha, the chairman of a military spending panel, said his committee next month will place conditions on a $93.4 billion war spending measure that will prohibit troops from being sent to the conflict unless they meet standards for training and receive adequate breaks between combat deployments.

Murtha said his legislation ``will force the administration to consider alternatives instead of escalating.''

Republicans such as Nevada's Jon Porter said Democrats will use the resolution as a first step to choking off money for the war. ``This resolution opens the door to cutting funds,'' Porter said.  

After three days of almost non-stop speeches by hundreds of lawmakers, almost all Democrats and at least a dozen Republicans are likely to support the resolution in the first congressional rebuke of a four-year war in which more than 3,000 U.S. military personnel have been killed.

Public support for the war has continued to decline since Bush ordered the invasion in 2003. A majority of Americans --53 percent -- said the U.S. should withdraw from Iraq, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, an increase of five percentage points in the past month.

Thirty-five percent of those questioned in the Feb. 7-11 survey said the U.S. should begin a gradual withdrawal from Iraq during the next year or two, while 16 percent said it should be immediate.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aYXmt7jdp27w&refer=home

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