US:Senate Democrats yesterday accused Republicans of trying to block a debate on Iraq as President George Bush asked Congress for an extra $100 billion for the war in Iraq and the "war on terror".
The two parties yesterday struggled to agree ground rules for a debate on resolutions condemning Mr Bush's decision to send more than 20,000 new troops to Iraq. Senate majority leader Harry Reid said Republicans were trying to stall the debate, which is due to start today.
"We may not have the Iraq debate. They are not going to let the American people hear the debate," he said.
Most Democrats and up to 11 Republicans support a resolution that "disagrees" with the troop increase but opposes cutting off funding for the president's strategy. The resolution would also encourage the administration to establish benchmarks for the Iraqi government and advocate a clear line of command between Iraqi and US military forces.
Mr Reid hopes to get a majority of the Senate's 100 members on the record as opposing the president's plan, an aim Republican leaders hope to thwart with procedural stratagems.
Republicans are under severe pressure from the White House to block any resolution that formally criticises the troop increase and Arizona senator John McCain has warned that such a resolution would undermine US troops in Iraq. "This is a vote of no confidence in both the mission and the troops who are going over there," he said.
Democrat Dianne Feinstein said the Republican strategy could ensure that senators are the only people in the US not debating the war in Iraq.
"What Republicans are going to do is essentially filibuster a motion to proceed to the Bills, which means we can never get to the resolutions to debate them and vote on them. Look, debate is going on in every schoolyard, in every state, in every city of this nation. It should go on in the Senate of the United States as well," she said.
Mr Bush's budget proposal, which he sent to Congress yesterday, calls for an additional $100 billion in war costs for the rest of 2007 and an extra $145 billion for 2008.
The Senate debate on Iraq offers an early test for the new Democratic leadership, which is seeking to expose Republican divisions. Among the senators who are backing the resolution criticising the troop increase are a number of Republicans who face tough re-election battles in 2008.
Mr Reid said that Democrats have made numerous compromise offers to meet the Republicans' demands, including opportunities to vote on resolutions backing the president, but have been rebuffed at every turn.
"Senate Democrats are determined to bring this plan to a vote. The American people deserve to know where every member of Congress stands on the president's plan to escalate the war," he said.