WASHINGTON — After a summer of mounting discontent over the war in Iraq, President Bush will face renewed criticism from Democrats and Republicans when Congress returns to work next week. But he appears unlikely to come up against an effective challenge to his policy -- because his critics in both parties are deeply divided over what change in course to propose.
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War Critics Have Backing, but Not Much of a Following
The Conflict in Iraq
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday September 14, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 69 words Type of Material: Correction
War poll -- An Aug. 28 article in Section A about congressional critics of President Bush's Iraq policy reported that a poll had found that 15% of Republicans favored total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, 33% favored partial withdrawal and 64% favored maintaining or increasing troop strength. The correct poll results were: 15% favored total withdrawal, 18% favored partial withdrawal and 64% favored maintaining or increasing troop strength.
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"There is an alternative strategy," said Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), a leading foreign policy critic, but "not a united one."
Over the last two months, as U.S. combat casualties have risen and efforts to draft a new Iraqi constitution have sputtered, public support for the war has sagged. War protesters, rallied by Cindy Sheehan, a Vacaville, Calif., woman whose son died in Iraq, dogged President Bush at his ranch in Texas and at speeches in Idaho.
Reflecting the public mood, some members of Congress have sharpened their criticism. Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.), who is considering a run for president, called on the Bush administration to set a target of December 2006 for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Iraq. Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a maverick Republican, said the war reminded him of Vietnam: "We're not winning. We should start figuring out how we get out of there."
Even Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a strong Bush ally who will face a tough race for reelection in 2006, said he had privately expressed "concerns" over the administration's management of the war. "I have a very clear track record of being supportive of the policy but not necessarily all of the tactics," Santorum told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
But the most outspoken critics are, for now, lonely voices.
Among Democrats, no other senator has seconded Feingold's call for a withdrawal date, although Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was considering it, a spokesman said. Among Republicans, none of Hagel's colleagues endorsed his view of Iraq as a second Vietnam. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), usually a Hagel ally, said the comparison was mistaken and instead called for more troops.
In the House of Representatives, a resolution calling on Bush to begin withdrawing troops by October 2006 gathered 45 cosponsors by the midsummer congressional recess: 40 of the House's 202 Democrats, four of its 231 Republicans and one independent. Those numbers reflect a sharp contrast between the two parties in Congress.
