Democrats outline an Iraq endgame

The House leaders' plan gives Bush the war funding he seeks, but also requires a troop exit by August 2008 – at the latest.

By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the March 9, 2007 edition

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WASHINGTON - As a timetable, it could hardly be clearer: Show progress in Iraq by July or begin withdrawing US troops. Meet your goals by October or start bringing the troops home. No matter what, all troops are out by August 2008.

By drawing their line in the sand, House Democratic leaders are trying to ratchet up pressure on the White House to change its Iraq strategy while trying to persuade Americans that there is another way forward on the war on terror. That direction, they say, involves intensifying the fight in Afghanistan while winding down involvement in Iraq.

As a practical matter, the legislation stands slim chance of passage as written. Antiwar House Democrats haven't yet signed on, and House Republican leaders condemned it. But as a gauge of America's war weariness, it may serve as a sounding board for a citizenry eager for solutions to a conflict that has proved frustratingly complex.

"We have to ... take the conversation to the American people and, hopefully, [President Bush] will hear them," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in announcing the plan Thursday on Capitol Hill.

After weeks of intense discussion within a deeply divided caucus, House Democratic leaders released their multifaceted funding plan. It adds $4 billion to Mr. Bush's $95.5 billion request for the Defense Department, including significant increases for military readiness and healthcare and housing for returning troops.

It also requires the president to certify that "benchmarks of accountability" for the Iraqi government are met and that US forces are not sent into combat without meeting the military's own basic guidelines for unit readiness, including a year at home before redeployment to Iraq.

The plan sets two key dates for the president to certify "meaningful and substantial progress" in meeting political and military benchmarks: July 1 and Oct. 1, 2007. If the president cannot meet that requirement, the plan calls for the immediate redeployment of US forces out of Iraq, to be completed within 180 days.

"Unless there is progress made in meeting benchmarks by July 2007, we begin the redeployment of our troops out of a combat role in Iraq," said Speaker Pelosi.

If they are met, the Secretary of Defense must begin redeploying US forces out of Iraq by March 1, 2008, and complete the redeployment within 180 days, she added.

The deal aims to strike a balance between two often competing wings of the House Democratic caucus: conservatives, who oppose any move to "micromanage" the war, and the liberal "Out of Iraq" caucus, which wants to see the newly empowered Democrats use war funding to leverage an end to the war now.

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