WASHINGTON -- Two days after saying on national television last month that he would be open to sending more U.S. troops to Iraq, Sen. Harry Reid posted a message on a widely read blog changing his comments.

On Dec. 17, Reid told a Sunday talk show host that he could accept a "surge" of U.S. troops if it was for a short period and part of a broader strategy to get the United States out of Iraq.

"If it is for a surge -- that is, for two or three months -- and it's part of a program to get us out of there as indicated by this time next year, then sure I'll go along with it," Reid, D-Nev., said on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

"If the commanders on the ground said this was just for a short period of time, we'll go along with that," Reid said.

Two days later, on Dec. 19, Reid posted a message to the contrary on his blog, "Give 'Em Hell, Harry," and on the "Huffington Post," a blog read widely by Democrats and liberals.

"Frankly, I don't believe that more troops is the answer for Iraq," Reid told bloggers. "I do not support an escalation of the conflict. I support finding a way to bring our troops home and would look at any plan that gave a roadmap to this goal."

A California-based anti-war group called CodePink said Reid, who will assume control of the U.S. Senate today as majority leader, "backed down because of pressure he felt from the grassroots" in the days following his television appearance.

CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans said the group found a way around e-mail screens and sent a flood of protests to Reid's office.

"We heard from other organizations that are working directly with Reid's office that they were feeling the pressure," Evans said Wednesday.

Reid was in Michigan on Wednesday attending the funeral for former President Ford and was not available to comment. Reid spokesman Jon Summers confirmed that Reid's office received calls following his television appearance.

But Summers disputed that Reid changed his position in the face of criticism from a Democratic constituency.

"Since his initial comment, the information that has come in indicates that an increase in troops would not lead to that ultimate goal" of a total U.S. pullout from Iraq by early 2008, Summers said.

Contemplating new war strategy, President Bush is considering sending 20,000 to 30,000 more combat troops to Iraq in an effort to extinguish violence and clear a path for the fledgling Iraqi government to take hold of the country.

Summers said he had no details of specific conversations that Reid might have had with other Democratic senators and military advisers in the days following the Stephanopoulos program and leading to his comments on the Internet.

Few other Democrats backed Reid's position following the Nevadan's TV appearance. Appearing later that day on "Fox News Sunday," Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said he opposed a troop surge.

"I respect Harry Reid on it, but that's not where I am," Kennedy said. "The generals who have testified before the Armed Services Committee think that we would add to being a crutch for the Iraqi civilian government in not making the right judgments and decisions. I think that is a persuasive case and is one that I support."

Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., former Sen. John Edwards and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, all presidential contenders, have come out against a surge.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, a former Democrat who was re-elected in November as an independent, is supportive of a surge. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., a prospective presidential candidate, has left open the possibility of supporting it.