Lawmakers to Bush: Push Iraq on militias

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Republicans and Democrats urged the White House on Sunday to increase the pressure on Iraq's prime minister to crush militias blamed for the rising bloodshed.

President Bush expressed unwavering confidence in Nouri al-Maliki's ability to come to grips with the sectarian violence. Yet continued instability and rising casualties have led to calls, growing louder as the Nov. 7 elections near, for Bush to overhaul his war plan.

"I don't believe that a shift in tactics ought to wait until after the election," said Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "There are too many casualties there. If we have a better course, we ought to adopt it sooner rather than later."

Two U.S. troops were killed in fighting, the military said Sunday, raising the death toll in October to 80, the highest of any month this year. The overall U.S. death toll has surpassed 2,780

Sen. Jack Reed (news, bio, voting record), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Bush administration's Iraq policy was failure. "What we have is a situation where this government over the last few months is deteriorating," said Reed, D-R.I.

While agreeing al-Maliki is the best leader to support in Iraq right now, lawmakers from both parties said he must do more to find a political solution between warring Shiite and Sunni sects, or peace will remain out of reach.

Bush said in his judgment, "Maliki has got what it takes to lead a unity government." But the president noted the urgency the new government faces to stop the killing. "I'm patient. I'm not patient forever, and I'm not patient with dawdling," Bush said. "But I recognize the degree of difficulty of the task, and therefore, say to the American people, we won't cut and run."

He added it would be a sign of surrender "if you pull the troops out before the job is done. Absolutely."

Sen. John Kerry, Bush's opponent in the 2004 presidential race, said a political rather than military solution is needed.

"Either they resolve the political differences within this year because they want to or they don't want to. If they don't want to, there's nothing American troops can do," said Kerry, D-Mass.

Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said setting a withdrawal timetable could leave a security vacuum that terrorists would fill. But Warner, R-Va., has said a change in course may be necessary if the security situation does not improve soon.

He urged the Iraqi prime minister to give the Iraqi army more authority to improve security. "It is their job, not the U.S. coalition forces' to subdue and get rid of these private militias," Warner said.

Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, the leading Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the administration must pressure the Iraqis to make political compromises on power and oil resources.

"If they don't want to do that, if they're going to have a civil war, we have to tell them, `You're going to do that without us,'" said Levin, who wants to see U.S. troops begin to leave Iraq by the end of the year.

The White House took issue with a report in Sunday's New York Times that said the head of the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq were working on a plan that probably would — for the first time — outline milestones for disarming sectarian militias and meeting other political and economic goals. The newspaper said the blueprint to be presented to al-Maliki by the end of this year would not threaten Iraq with a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The White House said the article was not accurate. It said the administration was constantly developing new tactics to help the new Iraqi government sustain, defend and govern itself.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday that U.S. officials are working with the Iraqi government to develop projections as to when they can take over various areas of responsibility so the Iraqis do not grow dependent on U.S. troops.

Democrats say it's past time for a change. Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., said the administration was hinting at doing so because Democrats were threatening to capture control of Congress in the upcoming election.

"Let's hope that at long last we'll have a true change of policy by the administration and not just a political feint to get by in a tight election," Kennedy said.

To Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, "It's immoral to have the lives of young Americans being put on the line, waiting for an election day event or strategy. If you've got a better strategy, Mr. President, we deserve to have it now."

Bush and Kerry appeared on ABC's "This Week." Reed and Specter were on CNN's "Late Edition," while Warner and Levin spoke on "Fox News Sunday."