Bush Attempt to Rally GOP Fizzles

The Bush administration’s weeklong attempt to rally Republican allies on Capitol Hill to stick by the president’s Iraq policy has fallen short.

The president dispatched national security adviser Stephen Hadley and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to talk to wayward Republicans. And he personally took a strong stance in press conferences this past week.

But still the ranks of Republican dissenters seem only to grow with the passing weeks. On Friday afternoon, after the Senate paused in its Iraq debate, two of the upper chamber's elder statesmen, Republican Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and John Warner of Virginia, unveiled legislation  requiring Bush to draw up a plan by mid-October that would significantly narrow the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq.

"I continue to counsel the president and his administration to move now to construct a more sustainable policy in Iraq that reduces our troop commitments and transitions away from the mission of interposing ourselves between sectarian factions," Lugar said in a prepared speech set for the Senate floor. "I believe there is strong evidence that the Iraqi government and political system will not achieve necessary political accommodations in a short time frame."

Bush has pleaded with Congress to hold off on any dramatic legislation until Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker have a chance to provide a progress report in September.

And while Senate Democrats have been ushering increasingly strong legislative proposals to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, they have so far fallen short of the necessary votes. But they are inching closer, with Republican senators starting to move away from the president's policy. Lugar and Warner will appear on ABC's This Week on Sunday morning to push their proposal, which is bound for debate this coming week or next.

--Silla Brush