WASHINGTON, Jan 7: US President George W. Bush and the new Congress are on a collision course over Iraq and the conflict may dominate the remaining two years of Bush’s tenure.

Nancy Pelosi, America’s first woman speaker, said on Sunday that the Democrats, who now control both chambers of the US Congress, will not give President Bush a blank cheque to wage war in Iraq.

This was the first hint from a senior Democratic leader that the new Congress could deny funding if Mr Bush seeks additional troops.

"If the president chooses to escalate the war, in his budget request, we want to see a distinction between what is there to support the troops who are there now," she said.

The statement tries to draw a distinction between the troops already in Iraq and those who may be deployed later. After winning the mid-term congressional polls in November the Democrats had said they would not endanger US troops in Iraq by denying funds to them.

This, however, leaves them the option to stop funding for any new project, such as the expected deployment of additional 15,000 to 30,000 US troops.

The Democrats want the government to begin withdrawing US troops as soon as possible. They also want the Republicans to resolve this issue before the 2008 presidential election which the Democrats hope to win.

The Republicans, however, want the next administration, particularly if the Democrats seize the White House, to deal with this issue.

But political analysts participating in Sunday talk shows warned that if the Democrats try to force Mr Bush to accept their demands by cutting funds, the president may not hesitate to use his veto to shoot down any legislation that seeks to limit his powers.

President Bush has vetoed just one bill in nearly six years in office but analysts believe that this may soon change as there are several items on the Democratic agenda that may cause Mr Bush to use veto, such as the proposed withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

The US Congress can override a veto but so far the odds on vetoes always have favoured presidents, no matter which party controls Congress. There have been 2,551 presidential vetoes since George Washington became president in 1789. Only 106 have been overridden.It is still too early to say whether the situation will lead both sides to such extremes but it is obvious that the Congress-White House conflict is going to dominate the political scene in Washington for the next two years.

Mr Bush completes his tenure in January 2009 and since this is his second term, he cannot seek re-election. Members of the House of Representatives are elected for two-year terms, so those elected in November will also serve until January 3, 2009.

If Mr Bush, as expected, announces his intention to deploy additional US troops in Iraq, it will force the Democrats to stand up to the commander in chief in a time of war. It will also test the ability of the legislative branch to seize control of the White House's controversial foreign policy.

In an interview to CBS News on Sunday, Ms Pelosi indicated that she is ready for the challenge. “If the president wants to add to this mission, he is going to have to justify it,” she said. “And this is new for him because up until now the Republican Congress has given him a blank cheque with no oversight, no standards and no conditions.”

But political analysts warn that this issue is far more complicated than the Democrats publicly acknowledge. They point out that while the Democrats are united in opposing Mr Bush's war policy, they do not share a consensus on what to do next in Iraq, beyond a broad sense that the United States must begin to scale back.

That’s why, the analysts noted, Iraq is not on Ms Pelosi's 100-hour agenda -- legislation that she intends to have the House pass before the president delivers his State of the Union address later this month.

The Democrats know that a growing public opposition to the war played a key role in their electoral victory in November and can be a major factor in the 2008 presidential election as well. That’s why Ms Pelosi has listed a change in the course of the war as her number one priority.

But the Democrats also realise that the war may hurt them as well. If the Bush administration continues its current policy of engagement, it would also raise questions about Democrats’ ability to keep their pledge to usher in a new direction in Iraq.

And this may influence how Americans may vote in 2008.