Senate rejects Democrats146; troop pullout call

The Senate on Thursday rejected a Democratic resolution to withdraw most American combat troops from Iraq in 2008, but a similar measure advanced in the House, and Democratic leaders vowed to keep challenging President Bush to change course in Iraq.

The vote in the Senate was 50 against and 48 in favour, 12 short of what was needed to pass, with just a few defections in each party. It came just hours after the House Appropriations Committee, in another vote largely on party lines, approved an emergency spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan that includes a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. The House will vote on that legislation next Thursday, setting the stage for another confrontation.

The action in both houses threw into sharp relief the Democratic strategy of ratcheting up the pressure, vote by vote, to try to force the White House to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. But it also highlighted Republican unity in opposition; in the Senate, only one Republican, Gordon H Smith of Oregon, voted with the Democrats.

Republican leaders said they counted the day as a victory. 8220;It is clear now that the majority of the Senate opposes a deadline for the withdrawal of troops,8221; said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.

8211;ROBIN TONER 038; JEFF ZELENY