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He'd come from a military family. He'd always wanted to serve.

But in the days since Joel Dahl was killed in Iraq, his foster mother said she's wondered how much longer the United States should stay in the country where he died.

"I don't think he died in vain," Patti Harris-Thompson said. "I supported the war. But it's not our fight anymore. I just think we need to set a date, do what we can to help until that date, and then leave."

Harris-Thompson said she hadn't spoken to U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici after Dahl, an Army corporal, was killed by small-arms fire in Baghdad on June 23. But it was sentiments like hers that Domenici cited Thursday as he broke with President Bush - and his own past stances on the war - and called for moves toward a troop withdrawal beginning in March.

Democrats, however, saw more than a little political calculation behind the Albuquerque Republican's reversal.

Facing re-election and poll numbers that have fallen amid controversy over his role in the firing of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of Albuquerque, some called Domenici's about-face on the war a "re-election-year conversion."

"Why was $440 billion spent before Senator Domenici could acknowledge what Senator (Jeff) Bingaman and Congressman (Tom) Udall realized more than four years ago," New Mexico Democratic Party Chairman Brian Col¢n said in a statement, referring to the two New Mexico Democrats who voted against the war.

That statement also predicts that Domenici will face the toughest re-election campaign of his career in 2008.

Santa Fe developer Don Wiviott, a Democrat who is running against Domenici, said he too saw political motivations in the senator's announcement.

"It's unfortunate that it has taken Pete's office this long to respond to the Iraq Study Group and that he's waiting until the 2008 election year to withdraw troops," Wiviott said.

Another Democrat who wants to oust Domenici, Leland Lehrman, welcomed the senator's new position.

"Senator Domenici's recent change of position on the Iraq war is welcome, if long overdue. His plan to redeploy troops elsewhere in the region represents no change in the moral tenor of Domenici's imperialistic foreign policy," Lehrman said.

Most observers say Wiviott, Lehrman and affordable-housing advocate Jim Hannan, none of whom has experience in statewide elected office or wide name recognition, have little chance of unseating Domenici. But even if the six-term senator doesn't draw a serious challenge, the war in Iraq has grown so unpopular he's bound to respond to public opinion, Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff said.

"I personally believe he's sincerely expressing his concerns about the war," Sanderoff said. "I also believe it's smart politics."

It's not clear what effect Domenici's break with the president will have in Washington as the Senate prepares to renew debate over Iraq, likely next week.

The bill Domenici signed on to co-sponsor, which calls for enacting the 6-month-old recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, has some support from both sides of the aisle. But that support comes mainly from moderate Republicans and a pair of moderate, junior Democratic senators - Ken Salazar of Colorado and Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania.

In the past, the Democratic leadership has pushed for stronger measures, including a timeline for withdrawal or consequences if the Iraqi government fails to meet benchmarks. Bush vetoed a bill that contained specific benchmarks in May.

In a statement, Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat, said he continues to favor bench marks set by Congress "against which we can measure the Bush administration's progress in conducting the war and the Iraqis' progress in attaining a political settlement."

The bill backed by Domenici offers less-concrete language. A statement from Domenici's office said the bill is "intended to create conditions that could allow for a drawdown of American combat forces in Iraq by March 2008."

Democrats say the bill is just political cover.

"When the U.S. Senate reconvenes, will (Domenici's) rhetoric be backed by meaningful legislative action, or is this just another attempt at a re-election conversion?" Colón asked.

Still, Domenici joined a growing list of prominent Republicans who've broken with Bush's surge policy in recent weeks.

Military officials say the surge, which includes increased U.S. troop levels, is meant to bolster security and give Iraqi politicians time to reconcile divides between Sunni and Shiite factions. The American commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, had intended to give a progress report in September, though the Bush administration has signalled that September may be too soon to know whether the strategy is working.

In May, Domenici told The Tribune he would likely call for a new policy if Petraeus couldn't support significant progress by September.

But the growing opposition from Republicans like Domenici signals that, with an election looming, the surge is already hemorrhaging what political support it had.

"It is the Iraqi government that is failing to make even modest progress," Domenici said. "I am unwilling to continue our current strategy."

At his Thursday news conference in Albuquerque, Domenici also said the United States needs to return more of its attention to the war in Afghanistan, where a resurgent Taliban has stepped up attacks on U.S. and NATO forces.

"We thought it was all done, but it came back on us," he said. "It is indeed a pretty tough war that we're fighting there."

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, an Albuquerque Republican who expressed doubt about the surge in Iraq before it began, stopped short of joining Domenici's call for enacting the Iraq Study Group's recommendations.

Wilson was critical of the study group's report when it was released in December, likening it to hors d'oeuvres when she expected a "steak dinner." Wilson has said the United States should launch an intense diplomatic effort aimed at forcing the Iraqi factions to the table.

"I was skeptical from the beginning and didn't think we should have surged into Baghdad in the first place," she said in a statement Thursday. "It's frustrating that the Iraqis have not shown a greater sense of urgency in reconciliation, but I think it's too soon to establish a date certain for the beginning of a withdrawal effort."