THE US:President George Bush's call for patience with his strategy in Iraq has failed to sway rebel Republican senators, who told the president's national security adviser yesterday that they did not want to wait until September for a change of course, writes Denis Stauntonin Washington.
Stephen Hadley went to Capitol Hill to urge Republicans to continue to back the current strategy until Gen David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, reports to Congress on September 15th.
Three Republican senators have said they will join Democrats in voting for a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq and at least six others are backing a proposal to adopt as US policy the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group.
The bipartisan group, chaired by former secretary of state James Baker and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton, called for the redeployment of almost all US combat troops by next spring and the start of talks with Iraq's neighbours, including Iran and Syria.
Mr Bush said this week that he hoped US troops could start withdrawing from Iraq "in a while" but he ruled out any change of course until after Gen Petraeus reports.
Tennessee's Republican senator Lamar Alexander said: "The only difference of opinion at the moment is the president wants to deal with the Baker-Hamilton recommendations in September. I think he should do that today because it develops a long-term strategy for what happens in the surge. It would put him and Congress on the same path, which is what we definitely need."
Democrats failed to win enough votes yesterday to avoid a filibuster on a proposal to make a new defence spending Bill conditional on giving US troops more time at home between tours of Iraq. Virginia's Jim Webb wanted to ensure that, for each year they spent in Iraq, service personnel would serve at least a year in the US but the measure fell four votes short of the 60 votes it needed and was withdrawn.
The White House has threatened to veto the defence Bill if any amendment is adopted that would set timetables for withdrawal of combat troops or dictate missions for the US forces deployed in Iraq.
An interim report on the surge of US troops in Iraq is due this week, and it is expected to acknowledge that Iraq's government has failed to meet political and security benchmarks spelled out by Congress and the president.
Maine Republican Olympia Snowe said yesterday she would support an amendment that would require a withdrawal of US combat troops by the end of next April, with a redeployment to begin within 120 days of the defence Bill's enactment.
"We have arrived at the crossroads of hope and reality, and we must now address the reality. We need to send a strong message from the United States Congress on behalf of the American people that the current strategy is unacceptable and that we must move in a different course," Ms Snowe said.
Mr Bush's battle with Congress over presidential power continued yesterday when former White House political director Sara Taylor obeyed his instructions and declined to answer senators' questions about her role in last year's controversial firing of nine federal prosecutors.
"While I may be unable to answer certain questions today, I will answer those questions if the courts rule that this committee's need for the information outweighs the president's assertion of executive privilege," Ms Taylor said.
Democrats warned Ms Taylor that, as a private citizen, she could be held in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena ordering her to testify about her role in the sackings.