Democrats divided over Obama's Iraq plan

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq has drawn mixed reviews from the president's fellow Democrats.

CNN reported Friday that lawmakers are divided on Obama's plan to reduce by two-thirds the number of American forces in Iraq by August 2010. Obama plans to leave between 35,000 to 50,000 residual forces in Iraq.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says the number of residual forces is too large.

"I don't know what the justification is for 50,000, a presence of 50,000 troops in Iraq. ... I do think that there's a need for some. I don't know that all of them have to be in (the) country," she said in an appearance on MSNBC.

Meanwhile, Ohio liberal Rep. Dennis Kucinich said that while he supports Obama's "step in the right direction," the new troop plan does not "go far enough."

"You cannot leave combat troops in a foreign country to conduct combat operations and call it the end of the war. You can't be in and out at the same time," Kucinich said Friday.