Washington, D.C. ? A Democratic senator on Saturday accused President Bush and congressional Republicans of hindering his party’s attempts to chart a new course in Iraq even though U.S. troops are fighting violence “they cannot possibly resolve.”

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said increased troop levels ordered earlier this year to give Iraqi politicians breathing space to meet political and diplomatic goals have not had the intended result.

“That means our troops are fighting for a peace that we seem more interested in achieving than the Iraqi politicians do themselves,” Casey said while delivering the Democrats’ weekly radio address.

On Friday, Senate Republicans blocked a $50 billion Democratic bill that would have paid for several months of combat. It also would have ordered troop withdrawals from Iraq to begin within 30 days and set a goal of ending combat in December 2008.

Democrats now plan to sit on Bush’s $196 billion request for war spending until next year, which pushes the Pentagon toward an accounting nightmare.