Democrats, Bush admn escalate battle over Iraq

Representative John Murtha's bill, the first to demand an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, stunned official Washington.

The veteran US lawmaker said that the US military operation in Iraq is a lost cause.

"Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the US cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily," said Murtha, a Vietnam War veteran considered more hawkish than most members of his party.

"It's time to bring them home," Murtha said.

His resolution came two days after the Senate approved a Republican measure requiring the White House provide quarterly updates on the pace of military and policy gains in Iraq, in a signal that anxiety over the Iraq operation was spreading to members of Bush's own party.

Recent opinion polls have found that the US public is also increasingly war-weary, with the number of US military deaths now well over 2,000, and the billions of US dollars spent there mounting every week.

Partisan sparring reached new levels after Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday called Democrats' accusations that the administration misled the country into the Iraq war "reprehensible" and "pernicious."

His remarks followed at least two broadsides against Democrats since Friday by President George W. Bush, currently in South Korea to attend an Asia-Pacific summit.