"As a practical matter, there's no way to say, 'Mr. President, stop,'" Biden said, unless enough congressional Republicans join Democrats in persuading Bush that the strategy is wrong. "You can't go in and, like a tinker toy, and play around and say, 'You can't spend the money on this piece and this piece.'"

Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Bush in a letter last week that Democrats oppose additional US forces in Iraq and want him to begin withdrawing in four months to six months American troops already there.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., criticized the Democratic proposal as a "formula for defeat," saying more troops are needed because the US military never had enough personnel in Iraq to get the job done.

"If we don't start over, and do what we should have done in the beginning - having enough people to win this war - we will pay a heavy price," he said.

"They never talked one minute in that letter what happens to Iraq when we leave," Graham added. "In all honesty we are not winning, and if you're not winning, you're losing. And now's the time to come up with a strategy to win."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote in Sunday's Washington Post that boosting troops for an indefinite time was necessary to secure peace in the Mideast.

"When we authorized this war, we accepted the responsibility to make sure they could prevail," he wrote. "Even greater than the costs incurred thus far and in the future are the catastrophic consequences that would ensure from our failure in Iraq."

But Pelosi, pointing to the November elections that ousted Republicans from control of the House and Senate, said Iraq already is in complete chaos.

"The American people have spoken very clearly on the subject in the election," she said. "And this war in Iraq is damaging our military readiness, so it is not making America safer, it is not making the region more stable."

Ahead of his speech, Bush planned to continue briefings with lawmakers this week, culminating in a meeting with bipartisan leadership on Wednesday, according to lawmakers and aides.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she would like to see a congressional vote on whether Bush can send in additional troops.

"My belief is, the president's coming to us," she said. "He's going to ask for billions and billions of dollars. He's going to send more of our people into harm's way. I think it would be best for the country if we got to vote on that surge or escalation."

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