Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The Senate today called on President George W. Bush to explain his strategy for ending the war in Iraq and report every three months on progress until all U.S. troops stationed there are redeployed.

The measure, passed 79-19, is one of several attached to a major defense bill that reflect unease within the president's own party as polls show increasing public impatience with the conflict and Democrats step up criticism.

The measure calls on the administration to make 2006 a year of significant political and military transition in Iraq that will allow a phased reduction of U.S. forces.

The Senate "needs to send the strongest possible message to the Iraqi people and the government formed there" that "we mean business, we have done our share, now the challenge is up to you," John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said.

The amendment was to the defense authorization bill that the chamber later passed 98-0. The bill sets military policy and became a vehicle for lawmakers to weigh in on Bush's handling of the Iraq conflict.

One provision would set legal rights and procedures for suspected terrorists held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Others bar abuse of enemy combatants in U.S. custody and seek details on any secret U.S. prisons overseas.

The provision aimed at withdrawing American troops, who now number 160,000 in the Mideast nation, urges but does not require Bush to report progress. It was sponsored by Warner and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.

Democrats Wanted Timetable

None of these measures are in the House version of the defense authorization bill, which means they'll be the subject of negotiation when the two chambers hammer out compromise legislation.

Passage of the withdrawal provision followed the defeat of a nearly identical measure pushed by Democrats and introduced by Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Carl Levin of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the armed services panel. The main difference is that Democrats wanted Bush to set a timetable for withdrawal, a notion he's flatly resisted.

Frist dubbed that a "cut-and-run strategy" that would play "right into the hands" of terrorists who would wait to attack until after U.S. forces departed. Warner said the provision "sends the wrong message" and would "completely destabilize" the national elections Iraq plans Dec. 15.

The Republican amendment requires a White House report within three months of the bill's passage and every three months thereafter outlining the current military situation, the status of Iraqi troop training and status of efforts to forge a compromise among Iraq's rival political factions.

`Clarify, Recommend Changes'

Twenty-five of the Senate's 44 Democrats, including both Reid and Levin, voted with Republicans. "Both amendments propose to clarify and recommend changes to United States policy in Iraq," Levin said.

Reid said Democrats "forced the Republicans to admit that staying the course in Iraq is not an option." The measure is "a vote of no confidence in the Bush administration's policy in Iraq," he said. Warner told reporters that Reid's comments didn't merit a response.

Bush's approval rating is at a record low in recent polls. A survey released yesterday by CNN, USA Today and the Gallup Organization showed 37 percent approve of the job he's doing and 60 percent disapprove. A Newsweek magazine poll released Nov. 12 found an approval rating of 36 percent and a disapproval rate of 58 percent.

The war in Iraq is a main factor driving down the president's ratings, according to Gallup poll data. The poll conducted Nov. 11-13 found 54 percent of the public thinks sending troops to Iraq was a mistake.

Guantanamo Detainees

The overall bill the Senate passed today authorizes $491 billion for military spending in fiscal 2006, including $50 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One controversial amendment, a compromise measure sponsored by Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democrat Levin, would give detainees at Guantanamo the right to appeal the verdicts of military tribunals in U.S. appeals courts.

The measure would formalize a military-based system of hearings and trials the administration set up to deal with suspected foreign terrorists held at the U.S. Navy prison at Guantanamo Bay, most of them captured almost four years ago in the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week said it will decide whether such military panels can be used to try the roughly 500 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo. The justices will hear augments and rule by July.

`Affront to Judiciary'

Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania called the amendment "an affront to the Judiciary Committee" that he heads. The measure "hasn't been the subject of any hearings" and is "blatant court-stripping in the most confusing way," Specter said.

The authorization bill also has a provision sponsored by Republican John McCain of Arizona that aims to ensure U.S. interrogation techniques don't violate the Geneva Convention.

McCain's amendment is also on the defense appropriations bill that the Senate passed Oct. 7. It's not on the House version of the bill that passed in July and the two chambers still haven't met to seek compromise legislation.

Bush threatened to veto the entire defense appropriations bill over McCain's amendment. Later, the White House offered to go along if Central Intelligence Agency agents working overseas were exempt from any restrictions.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jeff St.Onge in Washington at  jstonge@bloomberg.net.

Commentary:
What does a "wartime president" do without a war? Bush is in a hard spot. Win the war, get out of the war or lose the war. If he wanted to win, he'd have done that a long time ago. He wants war for no reason because that's why he went into Iraq in the first place. The man is insane.

Since we don't know what success it, (he's never told us) his war could go on forever. What in gods name took the Senate the long? (hint: the GOP is scared shitless because of the last elections.) It's amazing how this last election is forcing the GOP to do their job.