US:The US senate has rejected a proposal to start withdrawing US troops from Iraq within four months, as Democratic and Republican leaders agreed to send President Bush a new Bill to fund the war by the end of next week.
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were among 29 senators who backed the proposal to start withdrawing troops, which was opposed by 67 senators.
The Bill, proposed by Russ Feingold, never had a chance of success but it offered Democrats an opportunity to record their opposition to the war before they vote to continue to fund it. A similar resolution in the House of Representatives also failed, but won the support of 70 per cent of the Democratic caucus.
Ms Clinton said she supported the measure because Democrats had to send a clear message to Mr Bush to change course, move troops out of Iraq and end the war as soon as possible. "I do so because we, as a united party, must work together with clarity of purpose and mission to begin bringing our troops home and end this war," she said.
Mr Obama, who opposed the war from the start, said he was backing the withdrawal proposal to put pressure on the president and the Iraqi government, although he would prefer a more flexible plan.
"The Iraqi people appear no closer to the settling their differences. The Iraqi government is more divided and dysfunctional than ever. The Iraqi parliament speaks of adjourning for the summer without addressing the major issues standing in the way of a ceasefire. And our brave young servicemen and women are still fighting and dying to police someone else's civil war."
Mr Bush vetoed a $124.2 billion war funding Bill on May 1st because it included a timetable for a troop withdrawal and $21 billion, mostly for domestic priorities, that he had not requested.
The House of Representatives last week passed a Bill that would provide $42.8 billion in war funds for the Pentagon immediately and require a second vote in July to release an additional $52.8 billion.
White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten has been negotiating for more than a week with senior figures in both parties in pursuit of a deal that can get through both chambers of the Democratic Congress and win Mr Bush's signature.
Meanwhile, the president has chosen a three-star general who opposed the decision to send more troops to Iraq as a "war czar" to oversee the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Bush named Gen Douglas Lute to the newly-created post, which will co-ordinate military and civilian operations and manage the Washington side of the troop surge.
At least five retired four-star generals rejected the post and critics of the administration said its creation underscored Mr Bush's failure to co-ordinate military and civilian actions until now.