Senate Democrats today quickly seized upon British Prime Minister Tony Blair's announced troop withdraws from the Basra region in Iraq.

They said the move vindicated their opposition to President Bush's plan to send reinforcements to Baghdad, despite Mr. Blair saying, "the situation in Basra is very different from Baghdad -- there is no Sunni insurgency, no al-Qaida base, little Sunni-on-Shia violence."

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat and candidate for president in 2008, said Mr. Bush should follow Mr. Blair's example.

"Start to draw down our troops from Iraq, not send more into the middle of a civil war," said Mr. Biden, who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, said Mr. Blair had delivered a "stunning rejection of President Bush's high-risk Iraq policy."

"No matter how the White House tries to spin it, the British government has decided to split with President Bush and begin to move their troops out of Iraq," he said. "This should be a wake up call to the Administration."

-- S.A. Miller, Capitol Hill correspondent, The Washington Times