“Other legislation will be binding.” Bring it on!

WASHINGTON (Feb. 6) - The Democratic-controlled House will vote next week on a nonbinding measure opposing President Bush ’s decision to dispatch more troops to Iraq , officials said Tuesday, in a wartime clash between Congress and commander in chief.

The precise nature of the measure remains to be determined, the officials said, although Brendan Daly, a spokeswoman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi , said, it will be “our opposition to the surge” in troops.

The Pentagon is in the midst of implementing Bush’s order to raise troop levels by 21,500, part of a plan to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad.

Across the Capitol on the Senate side, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that U.S. forces might be able to start leaving Iraq before the end of the year - if daunting conditions including subdued violence and political reconciliation are met.

Bush’s revised strategy has sparked strong opposition among Democrats, and officials said that Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., had both pledged to their rank-and-file that next week’s vote would merely be the first attempt to pressure the president to shift course in the war. Other legislation will be binding, they said.

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