No one would mistake Peter A. DeFazio for a supporter of the Iraq War. One of the House’s most liberal members, the Oregon Democrat voted against authorizing the war in 2002, and this year he’s been a reliable vote for measures to withdraw U.S. troops. When Democratic leaders agreed last week to give President Bush a war funding bill without withdrawal timetables, DeFazio was an instant “no” vote.

But even DeFazio hasn’t been immune to complaints from the party’s liberal base. Last week, on the morning after the funding deal was announced, he vented his frustration in a telephone call to the Air America radio station in Portland. Anyone upset that Congress hasn’t ended the war, he said, should focus on persuading more House members to support a withdrawal of troops – not “waste their time” on the 169 Democrats and two Republicans who voted for a withdrawal earlier this month.