5-21-07, 9:45 pm

The Iraq war needs to end, says the overwhelming majority of Americans. And pressure is mounting on Congress and the White House to make it happen.

The latest congressional action over the last 10 days saw surprising gains in the number of votes for troop withdrawal measures. 171 members of the House and 29 members of the Senate voted on bills that would have mandated bringing the troops home. Peace activists expected no more than 125 on the House vote, and the Senate vote more than doubled since the last vote on a similar measure earlier this year.

A bill put forward by Republican Senators John Warner (VA) and Susan Collins (ME), both of whom are seen as wavering in their support of Bush, called for benchmarks tied to financial aid for Iraq's government but failed to get the 60 votes needed to begin debate.

This proposal was viewed as part of a growing trend among Republicans who are ready to break with the Bush administration's stay-the-course war policy.

CBS News reported this week that in negotiations with the White House on Friday, congressional leaders proposed fully funding Bush's supplemental request tied to a timetable for withdrawal. This proposal was rejected out of hand by the White House.

The administration then reportedly adopted portions of the Warner-Collins measure with an offer that forces Iraq to privatize its oil production and meet 15 other benchmarks or face losing $2.1 billion in aid by September.

Far from a new direction, the Warner-Collins-White House position simply punishes Iraqis for a civil war provoked and prolonged by the Bush invasion and occupation.

The anti-Iraq war movement will continue to pressure Republicans who want to win reelection in 2008 by appearing to distance themselves from the Bush administration.

This effort is gaining momentum. Recently, a group of 11 Republicans secretly warned Bush about a growing sense in their home districts about the White House's lack of credibility on its Iraq policy.

Risking their own credibility, however, those 11 Republicans voted to stay the course just 48 hours later.

This week some key Republicans, such as the number three leader in the House Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) and arch conservative Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), said that if the Iraqi government wants the US out, the occupation would have to end.

Their statements will be put to the test as well as a majority of members of Iraq's parliament signed a petition earlier this month calling for an end to the occupation.

Staunch support for Bush and the war among Republican members of Congress has a breaking point. And that is the weakest link in the chain of Bush's imperialist war on Iraq.

It is unfortunate and sad that so many lives will be lost before Republicans choose to side with the millions of Americans who want to bring the troops home.

--Joel Wendland is managing editor of Political Affairs and can be reached at