The Nation - Pelosi unsure of genocide measure's fate - She had vowed to bring the resolution to the floor, but sounds uncertain amid pressure from top Democrats.

The San Francisco Democrat, who had promised to bring the long-debated resolution to the floor, sounded uncertain about its fate as support waned in the face of angry denunciations from Turkey and fears that the symbolic resolution could disrupt U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Whether it will come up or not, or what the action will be, remains to be seen," she said.

The Bush administration and the Turkish government -- aided by high-paid, well-connected lobbyists -- have ratcheted up their campaign against the measure, which calls on the president to "accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide."

Now top Democrats are leaning on Pelosi. Rep. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, an influential Democrat on military matters, has urged Pelosi not to bring the resolution to the floor. He said party leaders miscalculated support for the measure. If the resolution is brought to a vote now, he said, it would fail, with 55 to 60 Democrats opposing it.

Murtha, a close Pelosi ally who is a leader in efforts to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, said he was worried the resolution would lead Turkey to deny use of its land, ports and airspace to supply American troops.

Separately, a bipartisan group of 49 House members, including such committee chairmen as Reps. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) of the Armed Services Committee and Silverstre Reyes (D-Texas) of the Intelligence Committee, sent Pelosi a letter urging her not to schedule a vote.

The resolution's supporters weren't ready to concede defeat.

They want to have a vote when they are confident they will prevail. Pelosi has left it to the sponsors, led by Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), to gauge support. "We want to win," Schiff said. "We always knew this was going to be tough."

Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America, said, "At the end of the day, we're confident that there will be a bipartisan majority" supporting the measure.

At least a dozen lawmakers have withdrawn as cosponsors of the resolution since it was approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, leaving the list of cosponsors short of a majority of the House. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), who pulled his name as a sponsor Wednesday, said, "We need to hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable, but this is not the right time for this resolution."