Don't raise Iraq force, top Democrats tell Bush

WASHINGTON — In a strongly worded letter to President Bush, the Democratic leaders of Congress said Friday that they oppose any escalation of U.S. troop strength in Iraq, as Bush is expected to propose next week.

Sending more American soldiers to Iraq will only endanger them, won't bring stability and will only delay the day that Iraqis take responsibility for their own country, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

They urged Bush instead to begin withdrawing some U.S. forces from Iraq over the next four to six months.

Coming days before Bush is to announce a new Iraq strategy and on the second day of Democratic majority rule, their emphatic statement was the strongest sign yet that Democrats in Congress will challenge Bush head-on over Iraq.

Separately, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said that one option Democrats have discussed is requiring the president to seek congressional approval for adding troops beyond a certain level.

The president is widely expected to propose an increase of anywhere from 9,000 to 30,000 troops in an address expected Wednesday. Details haven't been disclosed officially, and it's possible that the president will attach conditions to any troop increase, such as making it conditional upon actions by Iraqi leaders to stop the violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

But the Democratic leaders rejected the idea of an increase under any circumstances: "Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain. And it would undermine our efforts to get the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. We are well past the point of more troops for Iraq," Reid and Pelosi wrote.

Iraq developments

U.S. civilian grabbed: An American contractor was abducted Friday with his Iraqi driver and translator, who were later found dead in Basra, police said. The fate of the American was unknown.

Iraqis slain: At least 31 people died violently or were found dead Friday across Iraq, including two beheaded victims of sectarian violence floating in the Tigris River.

Sweep planned: Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops will begin a neighborhood-by-neighborhood assault on militants in the capital this weekend as a first step in a new strategy to contain Sunni insurgents and Shiite death squads, key advisers to the prime minister said Friday. The first details of the plan emerged a day after President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke by phone.

The Associated Press

They emphasized that top U.S. military officers shared their stand against increasing U.S. forces in Iraq. They were increased in Baghdad last summer when Sunni-Shiite violence was raging, and the death toll increased.

On Nov. 15, Gen. John Abizaid, the commander for Iraq and the region, told Congress that he had asked every division commander in Iraq if more American troops would increase chances of success.

"And they all said no," Abizaid testified. "And the reason is because we want the Iraqis to do more. It's easy for the Iraqis to rely upon us to do this work. I believe that more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, from taking more responsibility for their own future."

The alternative Reid and Pelosi sketched out was in line with recommendations last month from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.

"Rather than deploy additional forces to Iraq, we believe the way forward is to begin the phased redeployment of our forces in the next four to six months, while shifting the principal mission of our forces there from combat to training, logistics, force protection and counter-terror," their letter said.

They also called for regional diplomacy to get Iraqi leaders to find a way to share power and end sectarian fighting.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Republican Senate leader, said most Republicans will "wait to see what [the president] is going to recommend before we talk about it."

McConnell said he didn't hear about the Democrats' letter in advance, but added that he felt that his Democratic counterpart had "no obligation to consult with me on the biggest issue confronting the country."

Another Republican senator, Jon Kyl of Arizona, said in a statement: "In the spirit of national unity, we should at least hear what the president proposes before we criticize it, and once we hear him out, work together in giving his proposals an opportunity to work."

Several senators, including Democrats Barack Obama of Illinois and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, met with Bush on Friday to share ideas on Iraq. Bush didn't preview his plan, White House spokesman Tony Snow said. "There were some vigorous exchanges," he said.

Obama said he told Bush he opposes a troop increase. He added that Democrats and Republicans share "grave misgivings about what's taking place."