The Spokane County Republican Party formally rejected the Iraq policy of their current president and their party's likely nominee, saying American troops shouldn't be on overseas missions for more than six months without a formal declaration of war.

At a county convention Saturday that some party leaders said may have set an attendance record for Republicans in Spokane, supporters of presidential candidate Ron Paul handily defeated an attempt to scale back the platform's stringent limitation on using American troops on foreign soil.

They beat back an attempt by delegate Ritajane Boyce, of Spokane, to swap the platform's position on the use of American troops for a simple statement of support for American troops. The platform plank's limit of 180 days for peacekeeping or combat missions without a declaration of war was irresponsible, she said.

---

---