Dems want Bush to heed Iraq’s withdrawal timetable

Calls by Iraqi leaders for a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country could reopen the Iraq debate in Congress.

Three of the most ardent opponents of the Iraq war, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), introduced legislation late Wednesday calling on President Bush to heed Iraq’s demands.

{mosads}The resolution by calls on Bush to “Respect Iraq's sovereignty and redeploy our military if asked to do so by the Government of Iraq.”

It would also ask Bush to present redeployment plans to Congress.

The Iraq debate in Congress was largely put to rest for the year in June when Congress passed an Iraq emergency spending bill funding the war several months into the term of the next president.

But on Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki suggested for the first time that a timetable be set for the withdrawal of troops under an agreement being negotiated with the United States.

The three lawmakers also wrote a letter to President Bush, and another to al-Maliki. The letter to al-Maliki says that they “support the sovereign right of the Government of Iraq to insist that any security agreement between the United States and Iraq include a timetable for the complete redeployment of U.S. armed forces and military contractors out of Iraq.”