WASHINGTON — In an ominous sign for the Democratic legislative campaign to end the war in Iraq, the Senate on Thursday rejected a resolution that would have required President Bush to begin withdrawing U.S. combat troops within 120 days after it was enacted.
Two Democrats joined one independent and all but one Republican to reject the measure, 50 to 48, marking the third time in the last six weeks that an antiwar resolution has foundered in the closely divided Senate.
But the vote -- the first in either chamber that would have forced an end to the war -- also underscores how much congressional support for the conflict has eroded in the four years since the invasion.
The White House has repeatedly indicated that Bush would veto any measure that would restrict his ability to conduct the war. And Thursday, a spokeswoman touted the resolution's defeat and issued a warning to House Democrats pushing their own withdrawal plan.
"We hope the leaders in the House have paid close attention to what just took place in the upper chamber," Emily Lawrimore said in a statement. "Now is not the time for divisive legislation aimed at scoring political points at home."
The veto threats -- and the setbacks in the Senate -- have not deterred Democrats in the House, however. On Thursday, they charged ahead with their plans, pushing through a key committee a bill that would force withdrawal of most U.S. forces from Iraq by summer 2008.
After a testy, fiercely partisan hearing, the House Appropriations Committee voted nearly along party lines to attach the withdrawal plan to an emergency war spending bill whose passage the Bush administration needs to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Next week, members of the House will have a choice," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) after the committee acted. "Vote to continue the president's open-ended commitment to a war without end or vote to responsibly redeploy our troops."
A chamber divided
The Democratic drive to force the White House to end the war has faced a bigger challenge in the Senate, where Democrats have only a 51-49 majority.
That was dramatically underscored Thursday.
The resolution written by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) mandated that the president begin "phased redeployment" of U.S. forces from Iraq no later than 120 days after enactment. And it set a "goal" of March 31, 2008, to complete the withdrawal, allowing some U.S. forces to remain in Iraq to train Iraqi forces, conduct "targeted counterterrorism operations," and protect American personnel and facilities.
