Iraq withdrawals "off the table": Republicans

[Barrett808]

Source: Reuters

Iraq withdrawals "off the table": Republicans
By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading Republicans in Congress on Thursday declared that troop withdrawal legislation should be scrapped because the United States has made significant progress in the Iraq war, just as Democrats were resuming efforts to bring soldiers home.

"It should be off the table," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said of Democratic attempts to pass legislation to force President George W. Bush to withdraw some of the 168,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and wind down the combat mission there.

The Republican hardened stance followed months of speculation that September could usher in cooperation with Democrats on trying to craft a new Iraq policy. In recent months a small but growing number of Republicans have said it is time to develop a bipartisan strategy to bring troops home.

Democrats pointed to a new report that said the Iraqi army was improving to bolster arguments for starting to withdraw U.S. forces.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070906/pl_nm/iraq_usa_congress_dc