Senate Democrats working with a well-known Republican war critic are developing a resolution declaring that President George W. Bush's troop buildup in Iraq "is not in the national interest," says a person familiar with the document. The resolution also would put the Senate on record as saying the US commitment in Iraq "can only be sustained" with popular support among the American public and in Congress, according to an official familiar with the draft. Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican and potential 2008 presidential candidate, is helping Democrats with the wording of the anti-war resolution. "It is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq, particularly by escalating U.S. troop presence in Iraq," a draft of the resolution says.
| More from the AP: Snowe to support resolution |
WASHINGTON (AP) - A second Republican signed onto a Senate resolution on Wednesday opposing President Bush's 21,500-troop buildup in Iraq, setting a marker for a major clash between the White House and Congress over the unpopular war.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate from Maine, said she would support a nonbinding resolution that would put the Senate on record as saying the U.S. commitment in Iraq can be sustained only with support from the American public and Congress. "Now is time for the Congress to make its voice heard on a policy that has such significant implications for the nation, the Middle East and the world," Snowe said in a written statement.