WASHINGTON -- Congressional opponents of the war in Afghanistan forced a debate Wednesday on the House floor on a resolution to bring U.S. forces home and end the 8-year-old war.

The measure ended up losing, 356-65, a margin that had been expected. Nonetheless, anti-war representatives welcomed the debate as a chance to express pent-up frustration with the continued troop-build up in Afghanistan, and to present their view that the original mission of U.S. forces, defeating the al-Qaida terror network, had been lost.

The debate occurred as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, on a visit to Afghanistan, suggested that a drawdown of U.S. forces could begin before July 2011, the date that the Obama administration has said a U.S. troop surge would peak and forces would begin to withdraw. While acknowledging that the withdrawal could come sooner, Mr. Gates emphasized that any reduction "would have to be conditions-based."

Defense officials played down Mr. Gates' remarks, saying he was not announcing a new goal but instead emphasizing the administration's intention to hand over control to Afghan security forces as soon as they are ready.

During the House debate, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., emphasized that President Barack Obama's strategy includes a "promised drawdown" and noted Mr. Gates' comments that the withdrawal could come earlier than July 2011. "I want the U.S. military out of Afghanistan at the earliest reasonable date," she said. "But accelerating the Obama administration's carefully calibrated timetable could take grievous risks with our national security."

The withdrawal resolution was sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and would force Mr. Obama to pull out U.S. forces within 30 days of passage of the measure by the House and Senate.

Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., said she supported the resolution because the United States was no longer fighting al-Qaida in Afghanistan. "This Congress has an obligation to send a strong message to the White House that the war must come to an end," she said. "Who are we fighting? Over the course of this time, this war and its mission and its goals have morphed and morphed and morphed."

Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., wearing a tie festooned with peace symbols, called the Afghanistan war a "foreign occupation" that was unconstitutional, and would leave thousands more young people with brain damage. "We won, and now we could go home. ... In fact, we could have gone home a long time ago," he said. "We simply can't afford these wars any more in price of money or the price of blood."

Five Republicans joined 60 Democrats in supporting the measure to force a troop withdrawal. Opposing the resolution were 189 Democrats and 167 Republicans.

"The country is totally bankrupt, and we are spending trillions of dollars on these useless wars," said libertarian Rep Ron Paul, R-Texas. "History shows all empires end because they expand too far and bankrupt the country, just as the Soviet system came down."

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