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White House urges Congress to free up funding 
'If you support the troops, are you going to provide the reinforcements they need'

 The White House urged US lawmakers to put disagreements over the war in Iraq behind them and give the troops on the ground the reinforcements needed to stem the bloodshed.

A day after the US Senate blocked a debate on the US administration's new unpopular Iraq strategy, White House spokesman Tony Snow said it was time to focus on what needed to be done now.

 "I think what's going to happen is ... there's going to be a turn in the debate. If you support the troops, are you going to provide the reinforcements they need and our commanders need to get the job done in Iraq," Snow told NBC television.

"Now is the time to send a message we can have disagreements but when it comes time to show determination against an enemy and show determination in support of our forces ... we can also stand behind them and provide the funding and flexibility the president thinks is essential."

Congress, which has the power to cut defense spending, is due to start debating the new budget in the coming weeks including requests of 235 billion dollars for the current year and 2008 -- largely to underpin military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Despite calls from President George W. Bush not to tamper with the budget, some members of Congress have already said they planned to introduce legislation which would set benchmarks for further funding linked to progress on the ground in Iraq.

But Snow said that even though polls showed the new Iraq strategy was deeply unpopular, 66 percent of Americans still opposed any cuts to funding the war.

"What I would say to members of Congress, calm down and take a look at yourself, and ask yourself the simple question," Snow told CNN later Sunday.

"If you support the troops, would you deny them the reinforcements they think are necessary to complete the mission?"

He added that it would be inconsistent if after unanimously agreeing to name Lieutenant General David Petraeus as the new commander of US forces in Iraq last month, Congress was then to strip him of the resources to do his job.

And he maintained that the new strategy already launched in Baghdad was bearing fruit.

"I don't want to be putting on rose-colored glasses, because it's a war and there will be reversals from time to time, but when we show determination and give our forces the freedom and ability to fight we succeed."