Pelosi, Reid oppose troop increase

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The new Democratic congressional leaders opposed any increase in U.S. troops in Iraq in a letter Friday to President George W. Bush.

"We want to do everything we can to help Iraq succeed in the future but, like many of our senior military leaders, we do not believe that adding more U.S. combat troops contributes to success," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said.

Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., released his own statement opposing a "surge" of U.S. troops, The New York Times reported.

Many Democrats are more supportive of what appears likely to be the president's plan. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the new chairman of the Armed Services Committee is among them and plans to hold hearings next week.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who won as an independent, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., warned of any quick move out of Iraq.

Lieberman, who recently traveled to Iraq with McCain, said he hopes Bush's announcement next week of a new strategy does not set off "partisan political combat or some kind of inside-the-Beltway compromise."

At Friday's White House press briefing, Bush spokesman Tony Snow suggested that Pelosi and Reid and the president are not that far apart, and that they all want a stable, self-governing Iraq.