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High-stakes face-off over ending Iraq war
The Senate vote Tuesday to set an exit date for US troops complicates Bush's strategy.
By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the March 29, 2007 edition
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WASHINGTON - With both chambers of Congress now on record as backing a pullout date in Iraq, President Bush's fight to buy more time for American combat forces to achieve US aims there falls to him alone.
The Senate vote Tuesday to set a target date of March 31, 2008, to end the war – and to begin redeploying US troops from Iraq within 120 days after the final bill is passed – surprised Republican leaders, who defeated similar language two weeks ago.
They could have blocked the Senate vote but decided it is more important to get a war-funding bill to Mr. Bush's desk, where it is sure to be vetoed. Then the real dealing begins, GOP leaders say, because Democrats will not risk depriving financial support to US troops in wartime.
Democrats say the Senate's new resolve changes the endgame for the war-funding bill and are calling on Bush to start, now, to work with the antiwar majority in Congress so that lawmakers can send to the White House a bill that he will sign. If not, they say, it's the president who will be blamed for failing to provide for troops in harm's way.
"All of this is on George Bush's door," says Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D) of Hawaii, chairman of the Air and Land Forces panel of the House Armed Services Committee. "If he wants to see the person responsible for not supporting the troops, he should look in the mirror."
The president, though, Wednesday renewed his pledge to veto a bill that he says has no chance of becoming law.
"The House and Senate bills have ... too many conditions on our commanders and an artificial timetable for withdrawal. And I have made it clear for weeks: If either version comes to my desk, I'm going to veto it," Bush said Wednesday during an appearance at a Washington meeting of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
He added: "It is also clear from the strong opposition in both houses that my veto would be sustained." The House measure calling for an exit timetable cleared by a six-vote margin. In the Senate, if just two votes had gone the other way, they would have tipped the outcome.
Some political observers suggest this moment may mark an important shift in how Bush works with Congress – and some see him likely to draw a line in sand in terms of willingness to yield to Congress's will on Iraq.
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