US President George W. Bush sought support for his new Iraq military buildup from Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Friday as skeptical members of Congress undertook a second day of hearings on Bush's plan.

During a series of Capitol Hill hearings on Thursday, top administration officials heard scathing criticism of the strategy from Democrats and some Republicans who said they weren't convinced it represents a change in US military policy.

The new strategy was slammed as desperate and even dumb, and many expressed frustration that no stated time limit on the buildup was given, nor was a defined threat that the United States would pull out if the Iraqis do not perform as promised.

"The idea that we should add more military force to enable a political solution that they cannot articulate and, frankly, we don't believe that they really intend to do, is just folly," Democratic House Representative Ellen Tauscher told Defense Secretary Robert Gates and General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during an afternoon House Armed Services hearing.

Republicans often were equally sharp in their comments.

"We owe the military and their families a policy a policy worthy of their sacrifices. And I don't believe, Dr Rice, that we have that policy today," Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a potential 2008 presidential contender, told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

Hillary Clinton visits Iraq

US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is headed to Iraq this weekend with two other lawmakers.

Clinton, a Democrat who is considering running for president, is traveling with Senator Evan Bayh, a Democrat who had also eyed the 2008 race but opted out, and House Representative John McHugh, a Republican congressman.

The three, who are all members of armed services committees, are to meet with top Iraqi officials, US military commanders, and also travel to Afghanistan.

Clinton last traveled to Iraq in February 2005 with Senator John McCain, a Republican presidential contender. This week's journey marks the third visit to Iraq for both Clinton and Bayh, and McHugh's seventh.

War partners pulling out

US forces in Iraq are now supported by 15,300 mostly non-combat troops from 25 nations. Bush's new plans have not inspired America's coalition partners to follow suit. Instead, Washington's top war partners are looking to draw down their forces.

Italy, once the third-largest partner with 3,000 troops in southern Iraq, brought the last of its soldiers home last month.

Now Britain, the chief ally of the US, hopes to cut its 7,000-member force in the southern city of Basra by several thousand in the first half of the year. Prime Minister Tony Blair is preparing to announce a withdrawal of about 2,600 soldiers, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

The Slovak government is also bringing its 103 soldiers home in a few weeks.

Source: Chiina Daily/agencies