Washington ? A Senate resolution opposing President Bush’s war plan on Iraq put the White House and Republican leaders on the defensive Wednesday as they scurried to prevent a trickle of GOP support for the measure from swelling into a deluge.

Eager to avoid an embarrassing congressional rebuke of the president’s new war strategy, the administration seemed to hint that the effort – led chiefly by Democrats – might somehow be of assistance to terrorists. They also herded GOP skeptics to the White House, where they tried to allay the concerns of Republican lawmakers including Sens. John Warner of Virginia, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Susan Collins of Maine.

“What message does Congress intend to give?” asked White House spokesman Tony Snow. “And who does it think the audience is? Is the audience merely the president? Is it the voting American public or, in an age of instant communication, is it also al-Qaida?”

Initially announced by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and possible 2008 presidential candidates Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., the non-binding resolution states that “escalating the United States military force presence in Iraq” is not in the national interest. Bush has proposed adding 21,500 U.S. troops to the roughly 132,000 already in the country.

The resolution does not call for a withdrawal of troops or threaten funding of military operations, as many Democrats have suggested. Instead, it says the U.S. should transfer responsibility to the Iraqis “under an appropriately expedited timeline” that is not specified.

Republicans who attended the White House meetings said they emerged unconvinced more troops were the answer in Iraq, but were unsure whether signing on to the resolution was the answer.

Brownback’s concerns

Back from a weeklong trip to the Middle East and Africa, Brownback said Wednesday he is disappointed at the lack of security in Baghdad and urged the Bush administration to launch a serious diplomatic effort to resolve the conflict in Iraq.

Brownback, one of a small group of Republicans to publicly oppose sending more U.S. troops to Iraq, called on Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to begin “shuttle diplomacy” with leaders of the three major Iraqi groups.

Brownback painted a bleak picture of his meetings with Iraqi leaders, saying Sunni leaders “blame everything” on Shiites and vice versa. Although Sunnis are a distinct minority in Iraq, they had dominated the government until the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam Hussein left Shiites in control.

“All of this suggests that at the present time, the United States cares more about a peaceful Iraq than the Iraqis do,” Brownback said in a speech on the Senate floor. “If that is the case, it is difficult to understand why more U.S. troops would make a difference.”

Brownback has not said whether he would vote for the Senate resolution opposing Bush’s plan for a 21,500 troop buildup in Iraq.

While Brownback said it is up to Iraqis to resolve sectarian differences causing much of the bloodshed in Iraq, he said he was not calling on the United States to withdraw troops “and leave behind a security vacuum.”

Brownback said shuttle diplomacy would involve meetings among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders outside of Iraq. The meetings would be similar to the Dayton accords that helped resolve conflicts in Bosnia, he said.