Pelosi rallies Democrats ahead of vote on war bill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Up to a dozen Democrats might resist setting a deadline to end the war in Iraq, prompting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to rally prominent party members to help widen the margin for a nail-biting vote.
Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan commission on the conduct of the Iraq war, is expected to extend his support for the measure before the House votes Thursday. Former Florida Sen. Bob Graham and President Carter's national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, backed Pelosi's proposal Tuesday.
The bill "will clarify the U.S. role in Iraq and generate performance by the Iraqis that in all likelihood would otherwise be postponed," Graham wrote in a letter to Pelosi, D-Calif. "In doing so, the bill provides what is currently missing, a plan to redeploy our troops from a situation that cannot be improved by their continued presence."
The 124 billion bill includes more than 95.5 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it would demand that troops come home before fall 2008 and possibly earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet certain benchmarks.
The Senate is expected to consider a 121 billion emergency spending bill Thursday. Majority Leader Harry Reid said he expects the bill to include a provision comparable to a resolution considered last week. That resolution, rejected by a 48-50 vote, would have called for troops to leave Iraq by March 2008.
Sen. Thad Cochran, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said in a phone interview Tuesday he is strongly opposed to any measure that would micromanage the war and said he takes seriously the president's threat to veto such a bill.
Senate Democrats were expected to circulate a bill Wednesday that includes much of the additional spending advocated in the House bill, including some 1.3 billion for defense health, 1.7 billion for veterans programs and 4 billion for agricultural assistance, as well as extra money for hurricane relief.
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