Washington ? For the second time in as many months, the House rejected calls for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq with a vote Friday that Democrats said was politically driven and designed by Republicans to limit debate on the war.

In a 279-109 vote, the GOP-controlled House approved a resolution saying the chamber is committed “to achieving victory in Iraq” and that setting an “artificial timetable” would be “fundamentally inconsistent with achieving victory.”

Democrats voted against the resolution by 108-59, while 32 of them voted “present,” a rarely used option that signals neither support nor opposition. That split underlined divisions within the party over alternatives to President Bush’s Iraq war policies.

Among Republicans, 220 supported the proposal, none were opposed and two voted “present,” while the House’s lone independent voted “no.”

Democrats called the GOP resolution a political stunt, and offered an alternative statement simply congratulating Iraqis for holding three successful elections this year but not mentioning withdrawal or victory. Republicans rejected it.

Instead, the House GOP maneuvered for its own resolution, as Democratic calls for an immediate or eventual troop pullout intensified in the weeks since a prominent Democratic hawk, Rep. John Murtha, of Pennsylvania, said it was time for U.S. troops to start coming home. Some Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, of California, have lined up behind him.

But Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., said Congress needed to make a statement that it was committed to winning. “This is a global war on terror, and if we don’t win the battle in Iraq, where else might we win it or, where else might we have to fight it?” he said.

The GOP resolution “honors the tremendous sacrifices” of U.S. forces and praises Iraqis for voting in parliamentary elections Thursday. It says U.S. forces would be required in Iraq “only until Iraqi forces can stand up so our forces can stand down, and no longer than is required for that purpose.”

It says that “setting an artificial timetable for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq, or immediately terminating their deployment in Iraq and redeploying them elsewhere in the region, is fundamentally inconsistent with achieving victory in Iraq.”