GOP blocks inquiry into Bush's handling of war / Pelosi, Dems lose appeal vote after out-of-order ruling

U.S. House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to the press outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington June 28, 2005. Pelosi and other bipartisan congressional leaders had a breakfast with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House. REUTERS/Jason Reed Ran on: 07-03-2005 Workers at the Confecciones Internacionales Manufacture in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, sew T-shirts for export to the United States. If CAFTA passes, Honduran manufacturers expect to increase their U.S. exports 20 to 30 percent, a Honduran manufacturers group says. Ran on: 07-03-2005 Workers at the Confecciones Internacionales Manufacture in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, sew T-shirts for export to the United States. If CAFTA passes, Honduran manufacturers expect to increase their U.S. exports 20 to 30 percent, a Honduran manufacturers group says. Ran on: 07-20-2005 House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says the money &quo;is a good start {hellip} but it is not enough.&quo; 0 less U.S. House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to the press outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington June 28, 2005. Pelosi and other bipartisan congressional leaders had a breakfast with ... more Photo: JASON REED Photo: JASON REED Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close GOP blocks inquiry into Bush's handling of war / Pelosi, Dems lose appeal vote after out-of-order ruling 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

2005-11-04 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- House Republican leaders blocked a move Thursday by an increasingly emboldened Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to launch a broad investigation into the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq.

"I think it brings shame to this House to be engaged in a coverup when it comes to revealing what's happening in Iraq," said Pelosi, D-San Francisco, after her "privileged" motion was ruled out of order. She appealed that decision and lost on 220-191 vote, with only one Democrat voting with the Republican majority.

Pelosi has suffered similar setbacks when she has introduced anti-war resolutions on the floor of the House. But Democrats in the House and Senate are stepping up their criticism of President Bush's handling of the war and of what they see as the Republican Congress' failure to effectively oversee the administration's war effort.

But the Democrats in Congress remain divided over the war, just as they were in October 2002 when Congress gave Bush the authority to attack Iraq. Some want to withdraw American forces now, others want to see a plan for a gradual troop withdrawal, and others say even that step would help the insurgents who are attacking Americans and Iraqis in Iraq.

Still, Democrats believe it's smart politics to focus on the increasingly unpopular war as the president's approval rate drops, the U.S. death toll rises in Iraq, and the administration is saddled with the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in connection with a White House effort to discredit a leading war critic.

Pelosi's move Thursday came just two days after Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada used Senate rules to force a closed session to discuss allegations the Bush administration used doctored intelligence to make the case for invading Iraq in 2003. His move infuriated Republican leaders, who called it a political stunt, but it produced results.

Within two hours, Senate leaders agreed to give a bipartisan group until Nov. 14 to report back on the status of an ongoing Intelligence Committee investigation into pre-war intelligence.

A spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., dismissed Pelosi's effort.

"The minority leader is a few days late and plenty of politics short," Ron Bonjean told the Associated Press. "She's trying to grab cheap headlines after she saw the Senate Democratic leader attempt to."

Pelosi acknowledged to reporters that her 202-member House caucus was divided. "There are different views within our caucus, and I'm trying to accommodate those," she said.

The House minority has far fewer parliamentary ploys it can use than in the Senate. Privately, Democrats said maneuvers like Thursday's introduction of a privileged resolution was designed to gain press attention, show Democrats that Pelosi was acting on their concerns about the war and embarrass Republicans.

Pelosi recognized that House Republicans would never vote for a resolution that "condemns their refusal to conduct oversight of an executive branch controlled by the same party."

No Republican took the floor to speak against the resolution.

Another possible House fight looms over a resolution that would bar "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" of prisoners in U.S. custody anywhere in the world. The proposal would instruct House conferees to accept such wording -- vigorously opposed by Bush -- already included in the Senate version of the defense appropriations bill.

The Senate last month approved 90-9 the anti-torture proposal sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The White House has threatened a Bush veto if the provision is included in the final bill and Vice President Dick Cheney and CIA director Porter Goss have personally lobbied McCain to remove the CIA from his proposal. McCain rebuffed them.

The administration has repeatedly denied that it countenances any torture of prisoners detained in the war on terrorism or in Iraq and Afghanistan. But reports from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and Afghanistan have raised doubts. Those were compounded this week by a story in the Washington Post reporting the CIA had operated secret prisons in Eastern Europe and elsewhere since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The McCain provision, whose chief House sponsors include Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, was expected to be taken up in the House Thursday. But it has been postponed by House leaders, perhaps until just before the expected Thanksgiving recess.

"Cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment violates U.S. treaty obligations and undermines our moral authority," Tauscher wrote in a letter to her House colleagues written with three co-authors, including two Republicans. "It has also been shown to be ineffective at eliciting actionable intelligence."