As testimony about the status of the Iraq war stretched into the second day, Democrats and Republicans remained largely polarized in their views on what to do next in Congress.
But a small group of House Republican moderates, unconvinced by the generally upbeat report from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, began working quietly with some Democrats to craft a compromise to speed the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
An aide said the proposal would be “less partisan” than approaches discussed so far.
Republican Senate leaders, meanwhile, echoed what was said a day earlier by their GOP counterparts in the House and praised the testimony by Petraeus and Crocker.
“It’s clearly taken the air out of the liberal-left notion that we need to leave Iraq immediately or very soon,” said Senate Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
But some Republicans, at least in the House, were less enthusiastic about the report to Congress. One member, Rep. James Walsh, R-N.Y., who just returned from Iraq, issued a statement Tuesday calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
“The big question is how will this Congress unite to do so prudently and properly,” Walsh said.
Rep. Thomas Davis III, R-Va., a moderate, called the testimony “a frustrating, inconclusive mix of good and bad news” and said the prospect for political progress in Iraq was “dim.”
Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., will meet with Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., to try to devise compromise legislation that would potentially attract the support of middle-of-the-road Republicans looking for a way to wind down the unpopular war.
“Right now we’ve only had Democratic proposals from the far left of their party; we haven’t had much of a bipartisan effort in creating proposals,” a congressional aide familiar with the talks said. Many moderates, the aide said, “are hopeful we can come up with something less partisan to vote on.”
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Democratic whip, said senators in his party are working with Republicans in one-on-one meetings, “trying to work out common language and agreement with them” on legislation that would lengthen breaks between troop redeployments.
“We have four on our side, we need six,” Durbin said. “I think we have a chance.”
Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., said he also wanted to find a middle ground with Democratson some kind of Iraq legislation.
“I suspect there is a little bit of a conundrum about what we will do next week in light of the report,” Lott said.
