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BBC, Friday, 11 July, 2003, 13:39 GMT 14:39 UK : US 'needs help in Iraq'
>>>The Bush administration is coming under growing domestic pressure over its Iraq strategy amid continuing attacks on US forces in the country.
The US Senate has voted unanimously to urge President George W Bush to consider asking Nato and the United Nations for help in rebuilding Iraq.
The non-binding resolution said that while it was in the interests of the United States to remain engaged in Iraq, conditions there posed a serious threat to American troops.
Public opinion in the US appears to reflect this disquiet, with polls showing a marked decline in support for the Bush administration's policy on Iraq.
The Senate vote came after General Tommy Franks, until recently at the helm of US-led coalition forces in Iraq, warned that American forces might have to remain in the country far longer than anticipated.
General Franks said attacks on US soldiers, which have killed more than 30 since the war was declared over, were occurring at a rate of 10 to 25 a day.
Friday saw the US pull most of its troops out of a police station in the Iraqi town of Falluja, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the capital Baghdad, a day after protests at the continued US military presence there.
An American military spokesman said about six soldiers would remain at the station to support the new police force in the town, where there have been frequent clashes between Iraqis and US forces.
Iraqi police officers had threatened to resign if the Americans did not leave the station, as they felt joint patrols with American forces placed them at risk of attack.
Overnight, a series of three mortar strikes were launched on an American base in the town of Ramadi, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad, although there were no injuries reported.
And the US military said two Iraqi civilians were wounded in crossfire following a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a US patrol near Baghdad airport.
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The Democrats urged Mr Bush to mend fences with France and Germany - key Nato members who were firmly opposed to the war.
Senator John Kerry, who hopes to challenge Mr Bush for the presidency next year, said: "We now know that the administration went to war without a thorough plan to win the peace.
"It is time to face that truth and change course, to share the post-war burden internationally for the sake of our country."
Senator Carl Levin, leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it was "a mystery" why the Bush administration had not made a formal request for Nato forces in Iraq.
He expressed the hope that soldiers wearing Nato insignia would not be targeted in Iraq with the same ferocity as their American counterparts.
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