A bill that would have brought most of the US troops home from Iraq was rejected once again by the Senate on Friday, a decision which represents another setback for Democrats trying to end the long-disputed Iraq campaign.

The plan proposed by Michigan Democratic Senator Carl Levin was blocked after a 47 to 47 vote, Democrats needing 13 more votes to pass the bill that would have permitted the withdrawal of most troops in the following nine months.

Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid was optimistic before the vote, saying this measure would provide the long-expected “light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.” But the policy supported by President George Bush remains standing for the moment and the Democrats have to cope with another stinging defeat.

If approved, the plan would have pressured Bush to start calling back soldiers from Iraq in the following three months and limit the attributions the remaining troopers have in the strife-torn country, which gives them more time to focus on the fight against al-Qaeda.

Senate Democrats hoped to gain the support of more Republicans, who expressed their opposition to Bush’s policy. However, the expected aid failed to emerge and the Grand Old Party claimed two more victories in their politic war with Democrats.

The first one surfaced Thursday, when the Senate rejected a proposal to slash the defence budget for 2008. In essence, this bill proposed by Senator Russ Feingold would have stopped the funding of troops deployed to Iraq and forced Bush to begin a massive pullout.

Even if Democrats have majority in both Congress chambers, they haven’t been able to raise significant challenges for the Iraq war or reach a compromise solution with Republicans.

The troops are fighting a war that is not going to end very soon and success is not taking shape on the horizon, Democrats said. They warned that many more soldiers will lose their lives because the Bush administration did not adopt a suitable policy and change the course of the strife in a way which would have brought victory over extremism

The Iraqi government was also criticized for failing to meet important benchmarks and continues to rely on foreign troops for the nation’s security instead of working harder to bring peace between religious and political factions.

That reconciliation is essential for social and political stability in Iraq, but the government of Premier Nuri al-Maliki is far from reaching that desideratum, Democrats stressed.

Bush was criticized even by some Republicans for opposing a timetable for the troops withdrawal and ordering a surge earlier this year. Based on a report presented by his top commander in Iraq and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Bush said the surge provided some of the expected results and acknowledged that some units can return home by next summer.

About 5,700 soldiers will return to the United States this year, while 25,000 more will leave the Middle Eastern country by mid-2008.

The White House leader outlined that this partial withdrawal is not the beginning of a complete pullout, because the American mission in Iraq certainly be prolonged after his tenure ends in January 2009.