Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq



U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) speaks at an event where Democratic Senate and House members rallied for a change of course in Iraq, in Washington July 17, 2007.



House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks at an event where Democratic Senate and House members rallied for a change of course in Iraq, in Washington July 17, 2007.

WASHINGTON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democrats failed on Wednesday to advance a key legislation in the Senate to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq after a rare all-night-long debate.

The bill that requires most troops to be withdrawn by April 30,2008, fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to end debate and move to a final vote.

"Regrettably, Republicans chose to block this amendment," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada).

"They chose to continue protecting our president instead of our troops," he said.

The withdrawal plan, wrapped in an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill, was cosponsored by Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Jack Reed of Rhode Island.

Democrats and Republicans have been at odds over the procedure for considering such amendments.

Democrats sought to adopt the amendments by a majority vote, while Republicans insisted on 60 votes, or three-fifths of the Senate. Democrats control the Senate, 51-49.

Four Republicans joined Democrats in the vote, namely Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, and Gordon Smith of Oregon.

As senators cast their votes, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice privately met with lawmakers in their offices to make the administration's case for the war.

The Bush administration is under growing pressure to withdraw troops from Iraq, as a recent Iraq situation report said the Iraqi government has failed to meet key political goals set by the U.S. government and a group of Republican lawmakers broke ranks with Bush on the issue.

Currently there are about 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, and more than 3,600 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in the country since the war started in March 2003.

U.S. Democrats plan to keep Senate in session all night for Iraq vote

WASHINGTON, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Senate Democrats are planning to keep the Senate in session throughout Tuesday night to highlight Republican resistance to allowing a simple majority vote on a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Harry Reid (D-Nevada), the Senate majority leader, was quoted by Tuesday's New York Times as saying that he will force lawmakers to go on record in votes around the clock until a procedural showdown Wednesday morning on a proposal to begin withdrawing troops within 120 days, with most troops out by next spring.

Bush says he is open to benchmarks in Iraq bill

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- In a political shift, U.S. President George W. Bush said Thursday that he is willing to work with lawmakers to include benchmarks for the performance of the Iraqi government in a war spending bill.

However, he also reaffirmed that he will veto any bill to cover only the costs of war in next two months when speaking to reporters at Pentagon.



US Democratic Senator from New York Charles Schumer (C) speaks while flanked by US Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (L), Democrat from Nevada, and Democratic Senator from Illinois Richard Durbin (R) during a press conference in the Senate Radio-Television Gallery in Washington, DC. Anti-war Democrats in the US Senate are vowing to force Republicans to stage an all-night vigil to defend President George W. Bush's policy on Iraq.(Xinhua Photo)