GOP Opposition to Bush Plan Forms

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Breaking ranks, a small band of House Republicans declared their opposition to a troop buildup in Iraq on Wednesday, and President Bush appeared resigned to passage of a nonbinding measure disapproving of his decision.

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''I am personally very high on President Bush, but on the matter of troop escalation, I am not in agreement,'' said Republican Rep. Howard Coble of North Carolina.

''I insist that we do not maintain an eternal presence in Iraq, if for no other reason than the cost to the taxpayers, which has been astronomically unbelievable,'' he said. He also noted the war has cost more than 3,100 U.S. troops their lives.

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Republican leaders predict that as many as two dozen or so members of their rank and file could vote for the nonbinding repudiation of the troop increase. Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina led the GOP rebels during debate on the House floor.

Jones, a seventh-term lawmaker whose district includes the Marines' Camp Lejeune, said he had spoken out four years ago against the plan to invade Iraq. ''I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat, al-Qaida,'' he said.


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-US-Iraq.html