There's no doubt that U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, likes to talk.

And the former college teacher is good at it. During a recent visit with The Advertiser, Abercrombie moved smoothly from the arcane details of congressional parliamentary procedure to the lessons taught by T.E. Lawrence (quoted directly from a dog-eared first edition) to political memories and personalities from his years in the state Legislature.

But the real purpose of Abercrombie's visit was to focus attention on his efforts to get some kind of serious debate going in Congress over the war in Iraq.

Abercrombie began his public life in Hawai'i as a critic of the Vietnam War, and clearly those memories remain. But, he says, his effort to force the question of the Iraq war in the U.S. House has been misunderstood by some.

Abercrombie and many colleagues (including Republicans) have introduced a resolution (HJ 55) calling on the Bush administration to set a date (Oct. 1, 2006) by which the United States will begin its withdrawal from Iraq. The resolution also urges President Bush to announce by the end of this year that this withdrawal process will begin.

This does not, as Abercrombie will point out, call for any kind of "immediate" withdrawal. Nor does it set a date by which the United States will be entirely out of Iraq.

Rather, it is an effort to kickstart planning for an end game in this bloody venture.

Abercrombie's resolution has been lingering in some kind of political limbo. But it got fresh legs recently when respected Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., began speaking publicly about a withdrawal.

With public opinion polls showing Americans turning against the war and a growing number of members of Congress willing to question the effort, Abercrombie says he believes his resolution has a solid chance of getting to the House floor for full debate as early as this week.

And here's where the talking comes in. While Abercrombie is absolutely clear in his personal opinion about the war (he thinks it is wrong), he says he is less interested in forcing that opinion down the throats of his colleagues than he is in getting a true national debate going.

Congress has been somewhat out of the loop on Iraq, and Abercrombie says it is long past time for that body to hold an "informed," "lengthy" and "serious" debate.

And he finds it somewhat humorous that his resolution is now being described as among the more "moderate" proposals, now that anti-war fervor is growing.

Abercrombie is enough of a realist to recognize that Bush is doggedly stubborn and is unlikely to pay that much attention to a rhetorical scolding from Congress. He also knows that this president, like all presidents, enjoys broad and deep support from the American public — even among those with qualms about the war.

But he still insists that vigorous and pointed debate on the war, its possibilities and the impact it has on the American psyche is long overdue and badly needed.

Who could argue with that?

Reach Jerry Burris at jburris@honoluluadvertiser.com.