The Iraq Tug-of-war

Durbin said recent speeches by senior Senate Republicans signaling a sharp break with Bush's Iraq war strategy might not necessarily translate into votes for Democratic measures setting target dates for withdrawing U.S. troops. Durbin also conceded that the Democrats, with a bare majority in the Senate, won't be able to placate liberal Democratic calls for a specific end date, including a funding cut off.

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"It's so hard, and I didn't really appreciate that when we won the majority last November," said Durbin. "People thought, okay you won the majority on Tuesday, I guess by Wednesday the war's over. I only wish we had that power."