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US Senate defeats Iraq timetable bid
 The Republican-controlled Senate has defeated a Democratic effort to pressure President George W Bush to outline a timetable for a phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. It then overwhelmingly endorsed a weaker statement of US policy in Iraq. By 58-40, senators on Tuesday rejected a Democratic plan that the minority party's leadership advanced in the wake of declining public support for a conflict that has claimed more than 2000 US lives and cost more than $200 billion.The non-binding measure called for Bush to outline a plan for gradually withdrawing US troops from Iraq. Republicans countered with their own non-binding alternative. It urged that 2006 "should be a period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty", with Iraqi forces taking the lead in providing security, a step Republicans said would create the conditions for the phased redeployment of US forces. Posted by: Fred 2005-11-16 |
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