Democrats urge Bush to pull out American troops from Iraq

Washington, Aug 1 (UNI) After several months of taking an ambiguous stand on the Iraq war, top Democrats have finally come out in the open to urge President George W Bush to begin withdrawing American troops from the war-torn country by the end of this year.

The army should be given a more ''limited mission and a phased redeployment'' in Iraq, they said in a letter addressed to President Bush yesterday.

''US forces in Iraq should transition to a more limited mission focused on counterterrorism, training and logistical support of Iraqi security forces and force protection of US personnel,'' the Democrats wrote.

President Bush has consistently made it clear that there will be no such pullout until the fledgling Iraqi government can secure its position and Iraq's security forces can defend the country.

With Congressional elections just three months away, the Democrats who were divided on Iraq, have perhaps decided that the current public discontent over Iraq is their best bet for capturing a majority of seats in the House and the Senate.

About a dozen key lawmakers told Bush the letter that, ''In the interests of American national security, our troops and our taxpayers, the open-ended commitment in Iraq that you have embraced cannot and should not be sustained. . . We need to take a new direction.'' The 12 Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif) and Senate Minority Leader Harry M Reid (Nev), include liberals and centrists who have differed over Iraq in the past.

The Democrats latest action clarifies their position before the November 7 election, giving the voters a choice between a party (Democrats) seeking a timeline for withdrawing troops from an unpopular war and a party (Republicans) resisting any such timetable.

Democrats had previously advocated reducing troops levels in Iraq but were split on the precise approach. During a recent floor debate in the Senate, Democratic Senators. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin proposed legislation that would require troops to be out of Iraq by July 2007.

The recent letter, dated July 30, is significant because - it has been signed by every top Democrat on committees which oversee military, intelligence and international affairs. It also solidifies the Democrats' position and presents a unified front as members head into the election season.

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