A day after they took control of the US Congress, Democrats on Saturday set the stage for a confrontation with Republican President George W Bush by strongly opposing the increase of number of troops in Iraq.
Reports have said that Bush is planning to announce increasing American forces together with enhanced economic aid to counter growing sectarian violence in the warn-torn country.
Terming "surging forces" a failed strategy which the White House has already tried, the top Democratic leaders called for "phased redeployment" of the American forces while shifting their principal mission from combat to training, logistics, force protection and counter-terror.
It is time to move American forces out of Iraq.
"More combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain," Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to President Bush.
Analysts say that the Democratic opposition is unlikely to have much effect on increasing the number of troops but if the strategy fails, it could have devastating impact for the Republicans in the Presidential elections due in less than two years time.
Rather than deploy additional forces to Iraq, the two leaders said, "we believe the way forward is to begin the phased redeployment of our forces in the next four to six months, while shifting the principal mission of our forces there from combat to training, logistics, force protection and counter-terror."
{{/usCountry}}Rather than deploy additional forces to Iraq, the two leaders said, "we believe the way forward is to begin the phased redeployment of our forces in the next four to six months, while shifting the principal mission of our forces there from combat to training, logistics, force protection and counter-terror."
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