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Rejoining the debate over the war in Iraq, U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson this week co-authored a strongly worded letter to President Bush calling for a "new path forward" focused on diplomacy.

In the letter, Wilson and a Republican colleague suggest convening a conference between Iraqi factions modeled on the Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian civil war in 1995.

Intensifying hostilities between Iraq's Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds have led many to call the situation a civil war.

"Current Iraqi efforts at national reconciliation have stalled," Wilson's letter says. "The United States must make clear that its continued financial and military support for Iraq depends on their leaders' willingness to participate in this conference and their ability to reach agreement."

Wilson said the letter came out of discussions during a weekly meeting of moderate congressional Republicans.

"There's widespread feeling among folks in Washington and elsewhere that the Iraqi central government is weak and there's no sense of urgency moving forward on reconciliation," the Albuquerque Republican said Thursday. "We need to intensify our efforts in that area."

Wilson's support of Bush and the Iraq war were called into question in her bid for re-election last year. The incumbent, who had previously enjoyed substantial wins over Democratic challengers defeated then-Attorney General Patricia Madrid by fewer than 1,000 votes.

At times since, she's seemed reluctant to engage the issue, focusing instead on local initiatives. Wilson was the only member of the New Mexico congressional delegation who rejected a request from The Tribune for an interview about her position on Iraq last month.

Pointing to Wilson's vote against a Democratic bill that would have set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq - which supporters saw as a way to pressure the Iraqi government - Democrats on Thursday criticized Wilson's letter as an attempt to seem moderate without taking a firm stance on the war.

"On the one hand, I think it's great that she can see something that's two inches in front of her face," said Matt Farrauto, executive director of the state Democratic Party. "But she's taking an extremely convoluted position on what is a fairly fundamental question."

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, a Santa Fe Democrat, declined to respond directly to Wilson's letter. But she said Udall has "actually voted to end the war" and hopes more colleagues will join him.

"Congressman Udall has been saying for well over a year that the situation in Iraq requires a political solution, not a military one," spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said.

In early December, Wilson criticized the findings of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which called for a "diplomatic offensive" in Iraq. Wilson compared the study group's report to hors d'oeuvres when she was "expecting a steak dinner."

Wilson traveled to Iraq in late December, after which she called for a "significant change in strategy."

On Thursday, Wilson said the letter doesn't represent a shift in her stance. She said she continues to oppose a timetable for withdrawal.

"That would put an arbitrary mark on a calendar," she said. "What (we're) suggesting is intensifying our efforts to make real things happen."