Senate republicans block call for phased Iraq pull-out
It overwhelmingly endorsed a weaker statement calling on the administration to explain its Iraq policy. Senators also voted to endorse the Bush administration's military tribunals for prosecuting foreign terrorism suspects at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but to allow the detainees to appeal their detention status and punishments to a federal court.
On the question of a timetable for troop withdrawal, senators rejected the Democrats' proposal by 58-40. Democratic leaders had advanced the measure in the wake of declining public support for a conflict that has claimed more than 2,000 US lives and cost more than €170 billion.
