Congressional leaders are planning to hold an unusual bipartisan ceremony this week on the Iraq war, an event intended to be devoid of politics on one of the most sensitive and divisive issues looming over the November elections.

Thursday’s congressional “remembrance” ceremony will recognize the “five years of service” and sacrifices made by troops and families affected by the war, according to a letter to lawmakers signed last week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

But the event will be held days before the five-year anniversary of the invasion of the war and at a time when both parties are trying to shape the election-year debate over whether U.S. military involvement in the country should continue.

Democrats are eager to point to the five-year anniversary to make their point that the war has gone on for too long, having surpassed the duration of U.S. involvement in World War II, costing the country $11 billion per month and putting American lives at risk.

Spotlighting the length of the war and reminding voters about the run-up to the invasion are part of the Democrats’ strategy to build the case for withdrawing troops from Iraq, analysts and strategists say.

“They’ve got to hope that the weariness of the war and concern over the casualties continues all through November,” said Danielle Vinson, an associate professor at Furman University and an expert on political communication. “These kind of events certainly do bring that up.”

Democratic candidates, especially Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), are trying to keep the focus on what they say was the wrong decision to wage war against Iraq in March 2003, an argument that resonates with their liberal base.

But Republicans argue that the troop surge President Bush announced last year has succeeded militarily in clamping down on violence, and that the U.S. should focus on the future of the country rather than the war’s inception. Focusing on the drop in violence makes it harder for Democrats to win support for a quick withdrawal of troops, Republicans argue.

The party’s prospective nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), has sought to shift the debate’s focus to the surge over the last several months. He is also stressing the possible disastrous impacts of a withdrawal and his plan to keep troops there until the country has stabilized.

When McCain made his victory speech after effectively clinching the nomination last week, he said: “Americans know that the next president doesn’t get to remake that decision” to invade Iraq
Republicans hope that next month’s congressional testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top military and diplomatic officials in Iraq, will help make their case that the current war policy is working.

Knowing that they lack viable legislative options to force a change in Iraq policy, Democrats have looked at other ways to bring attention to their push to end the war, including hearings about “waste, fraud and abuse” in Iraq, and wounded veterans. Thursday’s event could help them put the national spotlight on the impacts of the conflict.

It’s unclear whether the presidential candidates will attend Thursday, but Obama, McCain and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) are all expected to be on Capitol Hill for votes that day, Reid said Monday.

The hour-long event in the Capitol Rotunda will include performances by the U.S. military band, an invocation by the Senate chaplain, brief remarks by all four congressional leaders and a benediction by the House chaplain, according to a schedule of the ceremony.

Members of Congress have been invited to the morning event, and the leaders plan to send another letter Tuesday asking for attendance, according to a House aide.

Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for Pelosi, said the event is “bipartisan and bicameral” and is intended to be a “solemn remembrance” to the soldiers involved in the war and their families.

Republicans have been less eager to spotlight the fact that the war has been ongoing for five years, but agreed that an event should be held so long as politics stays out of it.

“This is a solemn event to honor our troops,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner. “I certainly hope that no one would stoop to holding this event for some sort of political purpose.”