US Senate panel opposes Iraq troop increase

WASHINGTON: A key US Senate committee has brushed aside US President George W Bush's plea to give his new war strategy a chance and passed a resolution opposing the plan to send more troops to Iraq.

The 12-9 vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday drew less Republican support than expected, given growing doubts in Congress about the wisdom of Bush's decision to add 21,500 troops in Baghdad and Anbar province.

Only one Republican, resolution co-author Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, voted for it, after accusing the Bush administration of playing ping-pong with American lives.

The measure now goes to the Senate floor for a vote expected next week. But the panel's chairman Senate Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, said it may be rewritten to attract more Republicans who have soured on the Iraq war.

Bush, a Republican, does not have to abide by the resolution.

Vice President Dick Cheney said a Senate vote would not sway the administration. ''It won't stop us,'' Cheney said.

"We are moving forward in terms of this effort, the president has made his decision," Cheney added.

"The resolution was not an attempt to embarrass the president," Biden, a 2008 presidential hopeful, said.

"Rather, it was designed to alert Bush that senators believe sending more US troops into a civil war is the wrong way to go," Biden added.