Four NW senators to support resolution opposing troop surge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four Northwest senators say they will support a bipartisan resolution that criticizes President Bush's plan to increase U.S. troop presence in Iraq.

Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon and Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Patty Murray of Washington state said Thursday they would back a measure advanced by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and a group of lawmakers from both parties. It says the Senate "disagrees with the 'plan' to augment our forces by 21,500," and urges the president instead to consider all options and alternatives.

A spokeswoman for Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the senator, although initially undecided on the compromise pushed by Warner and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., was supporting the resolution.

"She believes Congress must hold the president accountable for more diplomacy in the region so far. She continues to believe the U.S. cannot have an open-ended commitment to this war and that we must change course," Cantwell spokeswoman Katharine Lister said today.

The resolution is likely to pose a threat to the White House because of its expected appeal to Republicans who have grown tired of the nearly four-year war and want a chance to express their concerns. The president has been hoping to avoid an overwhelming congressional vote criticizing his handling of the war.

Smith's spokesman, R.C. Hammond, said the senator "has been helping forge a middle ground in the Senate, and he believes this resolution sends a strong and responsible message that the status quo in Iraq is unacceptable."

Wyden, meanwhile, said late Thursday that momentum for the bipartisan resolution was building.

"It seems to me if passed, this would be a very significant, almost stunning bipartisan rejection of the president's plan for a surge," Wyden said.

Once the resolution is passed, Wyden said he hopes senators will also vote for a stronger measure to deny funding for additional troops to be sent to Iraq.

"When there are troops in Iraq with boots on the ground, I'm going to make sure they are funded with adequate equipment, armor and support," Wyden said. "But if they have not been into Iraq, I am going to cut off money to put them in harm's way, which is what the surge is all about."

Murray called the Warner-Levin resolution "a bipartisan way for the Senate to send a clear message to the president that we oppose his plan to escalate the war in Iraq. I look forward to the Senate finally having a real debate on the president's prosecution of the war and the best way to ensure success and safety for our troops."

Many Democrats had initially supported a stronger measure that declared Bush's plan for more troops was "not in the national interest."

That criticism was jettisoned Wednesday night when the revised measure was unveiled, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada maneuvered to pick up Republican votes.

The new measure says Congress "should not take any action that will endanger United States military forces in the field, including the elimination or reduction of funds for troops in the field," a provision that Republicans said was designed to outflank Democrats eager to rein in Bush's policy.

Several officials said Reid told a closed-door caucus that lawmakers would have an opportunity to vote for binding restrictions on Bush's war policy in the coming months.