Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) wants the anti-war base to believe she’s calling up a bill to end the war in Iraq.

In a statement Tuesday, Pelosi said, “This week, every Member of the House will have an opportunity to vote to set a new direction in Iraq. The American people want Congress to bring our troops home, refocus our efforts to fighting terrorism, and hold the Bush Administration accountable.”

Pelosi is publicizing that the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act would force President Bush to dramatically change his Iraq strategy. The fine print, however, states that Bush must first agree to it.

The first few lines of the bill demand that the administration redeploy troops from Iraq within 120 days and “complete the reduction and transition to a limited presence” by April 1, 2008.

Later, the language in the bill weakens. On page three, the bill calls only for a “reduction.” The next page specifies that the Armed Forces’ presence be reduced to “minimum force levels required to protect United States national security interests” by the April deadline.

How many troops would remain after this reduction?

In an email, Pelosi spokeswoman Nadeam Elshami said, “The bill requires that number and purpose to be justified by the President. It would then be up to Congress to decide whether to fund the deployment.” Continued...