Bush Vows to Veto Legislation Calling for US Iraq Withdrawal
Published by Staff March 23rd, 2007 in World.
U.S. President George Bush says he will veto an emergency spending bill for the war in Iraq because opposition Democrats attached a timetable for the withdrawal of troops there. White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.
President Bush says House Democrats have shown they are willing to undermine gains he says U.S. troops are making in Iraq in order to score political points in Washington.
“The purpose of the emergency war spending bill I requested was to provide our troops with vital funding,” he said. “Instead, Democrats in the House, in an act of political theater, voted to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders on the ground in Iraq.”
The bill provides $95 billion for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with a September 2008 deadline for the withdrawal of most American forces in Iraq. The legislation moves up that timetable if Iraq’s government does not meet political, security, and economic benchmarks.
Repeating his vow to veto the legislation, President Bush says the bill has no chance of becoming law.
“Today’s action in the House does only one thing. It delays the delivery of vital resources for our troops,” said President Bush.
President Bush says Democrats want to make clear that they oppose the war in Iraq, and they’ve made their point.
“For some, that is not enough,” he said. “These Democrats believe that the longer they can delay funding for our troops, the more likely they are to force me to accept restrictions on our commanders, an artificial timetable for withdrawal, and their pet spending projects. This is not going to happen.”
A public opinion poll by Newsweek magazine says nearly 70 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the president is handing the war. 61 percent believe the United States is losing ground in efforts to establish security and democracy in Iraq.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the American people see the reality of the war in Iraq, and President Bush does not.
“The American people do not support a war without end, and neither should this Congress,” she said.
It was a close House vote, largely along party lines, making it highly unlikely that Democrats could find the two-thirds majority needed to override the president’s promised veto.
Source: VOA
Bush has lost his mind. He is never going to want to let go of his Iraq war because he has built his entire presidency on this one disaster. We need to bring the troops home before any more of them are murdered. Bush will keep the troops in harm’s way as long as he thinks there’s still one last chance left to repair his legacy.
Time for the more intelligent people to take over. Bush is a failure. We don’t need any more troops murdered to prove this.
Chasemaster, see all, tell all, know little. Wonder what qualifies him as a world political director - from teh looks of it nothing does.
Earnst, are you implying that you yourself know more than chasemonster? Your comment likely qualifies you as a see little. Iraq is in full blown civil war and in certain areas of the world like the middle east, ethnic peoples do not mix well. In addition to a total troop pull out, the only thing that will bring an end to the war is making Iraq into separate ethnic governed states, or worse, one ethnic gaining a stronghold establishing a government.
It is interesting that the strongest supporters of the war and sending more American troops are people who are not serving. I wonder how in favor you would be of the war continuing if you were stationed in Iraq, of how in favor Mr. Bush would be if his daughters were serving there. The US pull out would likely begin in days.