GovernmentExecutive.com

House Democratic leaders are considering votes next month on another legislative package aimed at changing course in Iraq, and might announce those plans this week, aides said Monday.

One Democratic leadership aide said no decision has been made regarding whether the plan would be announced before lawmakers leave at the end of the week for the July Fourth recess. But several sources who attended Monday afternoon's weekly meeting of Democratic press aides said that Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office made clear that the announcement could come quickly. The Iraq language would be attached to the Defense appropriations bill.

Aides with knowledge of the internal caucus debate over how to proceed said the plan is likely to involve a series of votes that could involve some modified form of the troop withdrawal measure voted on by the House during the supplemental debate earlier this year, as well as legislation reversing congressional approval for military operations in the country.

One Democratic aide who attended the meeting said there is a danger in not waiting until fall to readdress the war issue, as had been anticipated. While it may poll well, the Iraq conflict represents a situation that cannot be controlled. "Ultimately, the Congress is not going to have any real impact short of yanking the funding," said the aide. "And I just don't see that happening yet."

Announcing such a move prior to the recess would be a clear political gambit for Democrats hoping to get more mileage over the break from an issue that has fallen out of the headlines since President Bush vetoed a war funding bill that contained a timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw and signed a version of the bill in which that language was excluded.

A Republican leadership aide dismissed any potential announcement as a political stunt and suggested in would backfire. "It would be ironic if Democrats decided to celebrate this Independence Day with a resolution to retreat on the biggest fight for freedom in the 21st Century," the aide said.

COMMENTS

• The "biggest fight for freedom of the 21st century" should be the one when we wrest control from the Bush administration and his Republican accomplices. Scott Posted June 28, 2007 10:43 AM
• Look we all know that Iraq is a mess. The U.S. military was flawless at their mission, but the political leadership has screwed it up by not putting enought boots on the ground to start with. The effort was mismanaged by Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz trying their "brilliant ideas" on use of small mobile forces. It worked in Afganistan so they figured it would work in Iraq. They were wrong. They should have listened to General Powell and followed his doctrines of using massive force and having a exit strategy. Now it is beyond control because Iran is exporting terror and violance in the entire region. You can't just "pull out" because the results will be catastrophic. You can't just let young American soldiers be "pop up" targets. In my view, the strategy should be to destablize Iran, and give the leadership there something to think about and do instead of causing trouble for the U.S. Why should our troops be at risk of IED attack, but the Revolutionary Guard in Iran who is supporting this effort, not have to face the same music in their own country. Maybe I am an American traditionalist, but if someone hits you you ought to hit them back hard. It is after all the best way to get them to change their behavior. Unpleasent I know, and not "politically correct", but it is realistic. Kevin Posted June 27, 2007 10:31 AM