WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that the Senate will face another round of votes on the Iraq war before the July Fourth recess.

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He said it is part of a strategy intended to show that Democrats are not giving up on efforts to bring troops home.

Reid also told reporters after a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats on Thursday that he had lost confidence in Gen. Peter Pace and was happy to learn the four-star general will not remain chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Reid also said he was concerned that Gen. David Petraeus might not be offering an honest assessment of the Iraq war.

Pace "had not done a very good job in speaking out for some obvious things that weren't going right in Iraq," said Reid, D-Nev.

Regarding Petraeus as Iraq war general, "I'm waiting to see if (Gen. David Petraeus) can be a little more candid with us," Reid said.

Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told President George W. Bush in a letter Wednesday, "We intend to again send you legislation that would limit the U.S. mission in Iraq, begin the phased redeployment of U.S. forces, and bring the war to a responsible end.

"These are goals consistent with both the national security of the United States and the will of the American people.

"We respectfully request that you reconsider your previous opposition to proposals that would accomplish these goals and work with us to give our troops a strategy worthy of their sacrifice," the Democratic leaders said.

"For a leader of a party that says it supports the military, it seems outrageous to be issuing slanders toward the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and also the man who is responsible for the bulk of military operations in Iraq," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

"The debate about this war has gone into the gutter when the Democrat leader of the United States Senate uses disparaging remarks to describe our military leadership," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.

Sen. John Warner, the No. 2 Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said congressional leaders should be allowed to speak freely on their assessment of military officers but indicated he was concerned that any suggestion Pace was incompetent could undercut the morale of the troops.

"How this will affect the troops remains to be seen," Warner said. "But that is a factor I hope (Reid) weighed before making that statement."