Senate Rejects Democratic Iraq Troop Withdrawal Plan (William Roberts)

  The U.S. Senate rejected Democratic- backed legislation that calls for U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Iraq.

  By William Roberts

  March 15 (Bloomberg) -- The Senate rejected Democratic- backed legislation that calls for U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Iraq just hours after a House panel approved a plan to bring the troops home.

  In the Senate, a measure sponsored by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada fell 12 votes short of the 60 needed for passage. It would have revised the 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq to say it is no longer valid, and U.S. troops shouldn't be policing an Iraqi civil war.

  Even the defeat of the measure was a step toward forcing President George W. Bush to change course in Iraq, said Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat.

  ``We ratchet up the pressure on the president, and we ratchet up the pressure on Republican senators,'' Schumer said.

  White House spokesman Tony Snow said the legislation would ``pull the rug out from under the Iraqi people by trying to set artificial deadlines when it comes to U.S. military commitments. If that bill comes before the president, he will veto it.''

  Republican senators said war policy should be left to the professionals.

  ``The generals are more capable of running this war than are the members of this body,'' said Senator Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican.

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