WASHINGTON (AP) – The House Republican leader said Sunday that GOP support could waver if President Bush’s Iraq war policy does not succeed by the fall.

But first, the president’s troop increase deserves a shot, Minority Leader John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, said.

“We don’t even have all of the 30,000 additional troops in Iraq yet, so we’re supporting the president. We want this plan to have a chance of succeeding,” said Mr. Boehner.

“Over the course of the next three to four months, we’ll have some idea how well the plan’s working. Early signs are indicating there is clearly some success on a number of fronts,” he said.
MoThus far, Republicans have stood behind the president’s increasingly unpopular war policies, including the troop increase and an open-ended war commitment.

Yet Mr. Boehner’s comments were an acknowledgment of the concern expressed by some lawmakers in private that their support could further damage the party, which lost control of Congress in the November elections.

The new Democratic leadership is pushing to begin pulling troops out of Iraq. Senator Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and a candidate for president, said congressional Republicans increasingly seem uneasy about Mr. Bush’s policies.

“So we may disagree politically here, but remember where the American public is on this issue: They want a change. They think we’re getting less secure, far more vulnerable today, than ever before, and they want a change in this policy,” he said.

Last week, Mr. Bush vetoed a $124 billion bill to provided money for Iraq and Afghanistan operations in part because it required troops to begin returning home by Oct. 1, saying the fixed date is unworkable.

Top White House aides are negotiating with Democratic leaders on a new war spending bill.

Another Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, a former Senator from North Carolina, argued against negotiating and said lawmakers should keep sending Bush the same Iraq spending bill.

“I think that America has asked the Democratic leadership in the Congress to stand firm, and that’s exactly what I’m saying they should do,” he said.

Mr. Edwards started airing a television commercial last week urging Congress to stand up to Bush and keep sending back the vetoed bill, which sparked a quarrel with Mr. Dodd.

“With all due respect, we could have used John’s vote here in the Senate on these issues here,” Mr. Dodd said.

Messrs. Dodd and Boehner appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” while Mr. Edwards was on “This Week” on ABC.