AUGUSTA – Without a word of debate, the Maine House of Representatives killed a resolution Tuesday urging President Bush to disarm Iraq through the United Nations and without military intervention.

But the sponsor of the nonbinding resolution said supporters still succeeded in getting its message out that the country is divided over going to war.

“The most important part of this was to make sure that the president recognized that this country is divided and we don’t want to send our troops into harm’s way with the country divided,” Sen. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland, said after the House vote.

Without a roll call, representatives decided to go along with the Senate, which a week earlier rejected the resolution by an 18-17 vote that closely followed party lines.

Sen. Peggy Pendleton of Scarborough joined fellow Democrats in approving the resolution in an initial Senate vote. But last week, Pendleton voted with Republicans to kill it, saying she changed her mind after rereading her father’s World War II diary.

“From the outset we said it was a mistake for the Legislature to take up the anti-war resolution in the first place, squandering time and good will on an issue clearly outside of its purview,” said the House GOP leaders, Reps. Joe Bruno of Raymond and Dave Bowles of Sanford, in a joint statement.

Opponents were also concerned that it could weaken the morale of U.S. troops being sent to the Iraq region.

The order, which would have been sent to Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and members of the Maine congressional delegation, had been changed twice by the House in an effort to address opponents’ concerns.

It was reworded first to emphasize support for American troops.

It was changed again to express support for veterans and their families, and to say the United States should take no course of action that compromises the safety and security of Americans.