Facing Heat From the Left, Murtha Mulls Changes to his Latest Iraq-related Proposal
    By Mike Soraghan
    The Hill

    Tuesday 31 July 2007

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) is mulling changes to his latest Iraq withdrawal proposal amid furious complaints from anti-war legislators that he is backsliding on the war.

    The chairman of the Appropriations defense subcommittee, Murtha is to meet Tuesday with Reps. Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters and Lynn Woolsey, the three California Democrats who lead the Out-of-Iraq caucus and call themselves the "triad."

    Last week, all three panned Murtha's bill, which would order withdrawal from Iraq to begin in 60 days, because it would not set an exact deadline for combat troops to be out.

    "This whole thing is a work in progress," Murtha spokesman Matt Mazonkey said Monday. "Congressman Murtha is in discussion with leadership and members."

    Coming in a flurry of Iraq and defense-related votes, the disagreement reflects an intensifying debate among Democrats about how to proceed on Iraq: whether to compromise on proposals that might succeed in pressuring Bush to withdraw troops, or insist on votes that force Republican lawmakers to take heat from constituents weary of the unpopular war.

    "There's a fight within the caucus on whether you cede ground to bring Republicans on board," said a Democratic aide. "If you do that in a way that's substantive, you're going to lose a lot of progressives."

    Meanwhile, Republicans are starting a counter-offensive, accusing Democrats of ignoring progress that Bush's "surge" has made on the ground in Baghdad. They cite the comments of a pair of Brookings Institution experts who say they found notable improvements in morale, Iraqi readiness and security.

    This debate is front and center as Democrats contemplate a slew of Iraq-related votes in this final week before the August recess. The Democratic strategy is to force Iraq votes that Republicans will have to explain to voters during the recess. The Iraq debate will intensify when lawmakers return in September and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, presents his report on the "surge."

    "This keeps up the steady drumbeat," said Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), the member of leadership tasked with coordinating Iraq votes. "When everyone goes home in the month of August, people are still going to be focused on Iraq."

    Wednesday's House debate on defense appropriations is also expected to feature amendments to close the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay and to require that troops be fully trained and equipped before they are deployed to Iraq.

    In addition, the House Armed Services Committee has sent to the floor a bill that would give more rest time to military units between deployments to Iraq. Mirroring the bill by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) that failed to clear a cloture vote in the Senate, the House measure, sponsored by Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), would require troops to get as much time at home as their previous tour in the combat zone.

    More potentially divisive for Democrats is a measure by Abercrombie and Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.) that would order President Bush to submit a plan for withdrawal within 60 days. A vote on that could give cover to fence-sitting Republicans and moderates who have rejected more defined withdrawal plans.

    Murtha's withdrawal proposal is expected to be the subject of leadership and caucus meetings before it comes to the floor Wednesday.