The US House of Representatives issued a symbolic rejection of President Bush's plan to deploy more troops to Iraq today, as the rift between Congress and the commander in chief deepens over an unpopular war that has taken the lives of more than 3,100 US troops.
The House approved a resolution expressing support for US troops in Iraq but condemning the troop increase. The vote on the non-binding measure was 246-182.
The resolution, which is less than 100 words, says Congress "will continue to support and protect the members of the United States armed forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honourably in Iraq" but adds that it "disapproves of the decision of President George W Bush announced on January 10th, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq".
While President Bush made no comment on the developments, he has already said passage of the measure will not deter him from proceeding with the deployment of an extra 21,500 troops.
Today's resolution was the first voted upon by the new Congress on the war. Roughly 400 of 434 lawmakers spoke during four days of a dignified debate - an unusual amount of time devoted to a single measure.
Meanwhile, an opinion poll published today showed more than half those surveyed view the war as a hopeless cause.
A sizeable majority, 63 percent, opposes the decision to dispatch more troops, although support for Bush's decision has risen in the past few weeks from 26 percent to 35 percent, according to the AP-Ipsos poll.