Senate vote on Iraq falls short

WASHINGTON — A majority of the Senate signaled opposition to President Bush's Iraq policy Wednesday but fell short of the 60 votes needed to force a change.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats vowed to increase political pressure after they and a handful of Republicans failed to break a GOP-led filibuster against a plan to pull out most U.S. combat troops by April.

In protest, Reid yanked a bill authorizing Pentagon programs for the next fiscal year from the Senate floor and predicted his side would pick up more votes by waiting. "Time and the American people are on our side," said Reid, D-Nev.

On the other side of the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans a series of Iraq votes before the end of the month. The House of Representatives has gone on record six times this year calling for a change in Iraq strategy. "We will repeat that judgment legislatively as often as necessary," Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement.

Republicans accused Reid of holding hostage a bill that would provide troops a 3.5 percent pay raise beginning Oct. 1. "We are abandoning the men and women in the military if we don't take this bill back up," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Reid's decision to shelve the bill, at least temporarily, came after an unusual around-the-clock session that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., derided as "gags, giggles and gimmicks." Democrats defended the all-nighter as an effort to dramatize their exasperation with GOP procedural maneuvers. "They blocked the will of the people," Reid said.

McConnell said he acted "in the best tradition of the U.S. Senate" by taking advantage of its rules to block a vote on an amendment by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., that would have required the troop withdrawal.

Arguing that "mayhem" would result if Democrats forced a withdrawal, McConnell said he tried to buy time for the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq to complete a status report. "We need to give Gen. (David) Petraeus until September to do his work," he said.

McConnell was able to block the measure because Senate rules require at least 60 votes to shut off debate. Of the Senate's 100 members, 53 voted to end debate. Reid switched sides to preserve his right to resume the debate.