Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

Anti-war protesters attend a demonstration in front of the Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., on Sept. 15, 2007. Thousands of protesters marched from the White House to the Capitol to demand an end to the Iraq war on Saturday. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan) Photo Gallery>>>

    WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- A bill that would order most U.S. troops out of Iraq in nine months was blocked in the Senate on Friday, the third defeat of Democrats to change the government war policy this week.

    By voting 47 to 47, the Senate cut off the debate the bill sponsored by Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin.

    The bill needs 60 votes, two-thirds of the Senate seats, to be passed.

    "We're going to continue to lose lives and squander resources while they (the Iraqis) dawdle," Levin said after vote.

    Republican Senators blocked the bill, alleging that large size of troops withdrawal in short time would leave Iraq, which just gained "progressive" tendency in improving political and security situation, back to the hands of al-Qaida terrorists, and put Americans under more attack threats.

    Earlier this month, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, recommended to Congress and President George W. Bush that some 130,000 troops be kept there through mid of 2008.

    Currently, a total of 165,000 troops deployed in Iraq after a surge earlier this year.

    "If we leave, we will be back - in Iraq and elsewhere - in many more desperate fights to protect our security and at an even greater cost in American lives and treasure," said Sen. John McCain, a presidential candidate and the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee.

    Congressional Democrats have suffered a setback on Thursday as a bill aiming at reducing fund for most Iraqi combat operations by next June was blocked.

    The bill, which only allows to fund very limited U.S. mission such as training Iraqi forces or targeted counter-terrorism operation, was backed by merely 28 Senators, all Democrats, including presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

    Another bill, which was seen as the most hopeful anti-war proposal to gain enough support in the Senate, was also blocked due to inadequate votes on Wednesday.

    The bill requires that troops in Iraq be allowed as much time at home as they do deployed, instead of 15 months in combat and 12months home Army soldiers spend now.

    "Countless Republicans have said the right things back in their home states: That we must support our troops, that we must protect our national security, that we must change course in Iraq. But here in Washington, they have consistently voted the wrong way," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in Senate on Thursday.

    "Back home they assert their independence, but in Washington they walk in lockstep with the President and continue to support his failed policies."