Democrats to propose Iraq pullout

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The two top Senate Democrats on foreign policy yesterday said they will introduce a resolution in January calling for troops to start being withdrawn from Iraq by this summer, a move that Sen. John McCain said would put the U.S. in the worst of both worlds.

Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat in line to lead the Senate Armed Services Committee, said his party's election victory last week vindicates calls for a change of strategy in Iraq and said withdrawals would need to start this year, despite White House opposition to any timetables, a stance it also reiterated on yesterday's political shows.

"The people spoke dramatically, overwhelmingly, resoundingly, to change the course in Iraq," he said during an appearance on ABC's "This Week." The Senate's "first order of business is to change the direction of Iraq policy."

"We need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to six months, to begin that redeployment," he said. "We have to tell Iraqis that the open-ended commitment is over."

On the other hand, Mr. McCain said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the U.S. troop presence in Iraq would need to be increased to achieve victory and said he would favor a total withdrawal if that didn't happen.

"I believe that there are a lot of things that we can do to salvage this, but they all require the presence of additional troops," he said.

Moderator Tim Russert said: "It sounds as if McCain is saying, 'Either send more troops in, secure the country and win, or make the decision and get out.' "

"I think that that's pretty much my position," said the Arizona Republican, who is considering a run for the White House in 2008. "Maybe it's more nuanced than that."

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., who appeared on the same ABC segment as Mr. Levin, said he backed the Michigander's resolution and elaborated on some of its other details.

It also would call for "a political settlement in Iraq, put pressure on the Iraqis to insist upon a means to distribute the oil equitably, to make sure that there's some form of federalism and to deal with the militias, and call for an international conference," said the Delaware Democrat who is expected to take the reins at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.