Washington ? Kansas lawmakers split along party lines Friday as the House approved a Democratic resolution opposing President Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq.

The 246-182 vote on the nonbinding measure came after four days of debate over a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,100 U.S. troops.

The state’s two Democratic House members – Reps. Dennis Moore and Nancy Boyda – voted for the measure, while Republican Reps. Todd Tiahrt and Jerry Moran opposed it.

Moran said his vote should not be interpreted as approval of the Bush administration’s conduct of the war.

“Despite my belief in the inadequacies of the president’s new strategy, to vote for the resolution with the troops already deployed is a step I cannot take,” Moran said Friday. “I am unwilling to – after the fact – say to them, ‘I oppose your mission.'”

Tiahrt, of Goddard, said the resolution would embolden the enemy and hurt troop morale.

“I am disappointed that none of the advocates of this resolution will explain what kind of destabilized world will be left behind if troops are pulled out of Iraq,” Tiahrt said.

But Boyda, of Topeka, called the goals of the escalation “unclear” and said Bush cannot be trusted based on his past mistakes in overseeing the conflict.

“In these dangerous times, we are not safer if we devote so many of our resources to a civil war in Iraq,” she said during a floor speech earlier this week. “And I, as a mother, I cannot support this escalation.”

Moore said he is glad Saddam Hussein is gone, but said it’s not worth losing American lives if the Iraqi people can’t put aside centuries of religious differences and support their new government.

“We have done militarily all we can do in Iraq,” Moore said in his floor speech. “We need to ask and tell the Iraqi government, this new Iraqi government, to step up to the plate and assume responsibility for the protection of their people and their country, Iraq.”