In the clearest sign yet of Republican anxiety over Iraq, two party elder statesmen Friday urged President George W. Bush to begin pulling US troops out of the sectarian cross-fire by the end of the year.
A new blueprint by Senators Richard Lugar and John Warner was similar to many plans from anti-war Democrats to get troops out of Iraq, with an important difference -- it did not include a hard date for a withdrawal to be complete.
The plan was released a day after Bush rejected any changes to the war plan until US commander in Iraq General David Petraeus gives a definitive report on progress of the current troop surge strategy in two months.
"We are attempting to ensure that US military and diplomatic policy is prepared for change when the Petraeus report arrives in September," Lugar said.
"We are hopeful that regardless of where Senators stand on surge versus withdrawal, they will find our amendment to be a constructive bipartisan attempt to prepare for whatever policy follows in the coming months."
The legislation, which appears designed to unite those Republicans who have broken with Bush on the war with anti-war Democrats, calls for a new plan to be delivered to Congress by October 16.
The President should be ready to start carrying it out by the end of this year, the amendment, to a defense policy bill said.
It called for US troops to be transitioned from "policing the civil strife or sectarian violence in Iraq" and their redeployment as "conditions permit."
US forces should then be focused on security Iraq's borders, denying a safe haven to terrorists, battling Al-Qaeda and training and equipping Iraqi forces.
Lugar sent reverberations through Washington on June 25, with a speech on the Senate floor calling for a change in the US approach in Iraq, saying the surge strategy was unlikely to achieve its objectives.
