US:President George Bush has sought to rally Republican support for sending more troops to Iraq as Democrats consider refusing to fund any new deployment of US forces.
Senator Edward Kennedy yesterday introduced legislation to require the president to gain new congressional authority before sending more troops to Iraq.
"We cannot simply speak out against an escalation of troops in Iraq. We must act to prevent it," Mr Kennedy said.
Although Democrats are almost unanimous in opposing a troop surge in Iraq, they are divided over the issue of funding the president's plan. Few want to stop funding the US military operation in Iraq altogether, but Mr Kennedy and others argue that they should refuse to fund the deployment of more troops.
Senate foreign relations committee chairman Joseph Biden is sceptical about refusing to fund the troop increase, but plans to introduce a resolution expressing the Senate's disapproval of the White House plan. "Unless something radical changes, I will put forward a resolution of disapproval of the continued surge of American forces," he said.
Republican senators Susan Collins and Chuck Hagel have already expressed their opposition to sending more troops to Iraq, and Maine's Olympia Snowe remained unconvinced after a 20-minute meeting with the president.
"I have deep scepticism about it, about a surge addressing the root causes of the mistrust and hatred that sects have for each other. That's what I expressed. The fact of the matter is that the American people don't support this war and the way it has evolved because they see the Iraqis fighting among themselves instead of for themselves," she said.
In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, six in 10 said the war was not worth fighting, three-quarters disapproved of how Mr Bush has handled the situation and 17 per cent called for an increase in US forces.
In his televised address tonight, the president is expected to address this scepticism directly and to acknowledge mistakes the US has made in Iraq. He will argue, however, that a stable Iraq is essential to the US national interest and that political progress is only possible if sectarian violence is reduced.
He will propose adding 20,000 US troops to the approximately 140,000 now in Iraq and conducting a robust counter-insurgency operation in Baghdad.