Senate quashes proposal to order troop withdrawals from Iraq

Senate Republicans today scuttled a Democratic proposal ordering US troop withdrawals from Iraq in a showdown that capped an all-night debate on the war.

The 52-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate under Senate rules. It was a sound defeat for Democrats who say the US military campaign, in its fifth year and requiring 158,000 troops, cannot tame the sectarian violence in Iraq.