White House Promises Veto of Iraq Bill

CBNNews.com

March 15, 2007

CBNNews.com - House Democrats have confidently predicted they can pass a bill to end the Iraq War before September 2008. This prediction comes even as their colleagues in the Senate struggle to get their war debate off the ground.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE SENATE DEBATE ON IRAQ

The House Appropriations Committee planned to vote Thursday on a $124 billion spending bill that includes $95.5 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure was expected to pass narrowly, mostly along party lines with a few Democratic defectors, paving the way for a floor vote next week.

The bill has proved to be the first major test of unity among Democrats since they took control of Congress in January. Party members agree the war should end, but have been deeply divided over how far to go to force President Bush's hand.

Prospect of Bill Becoming Law - Very Dim

However, the prospects of the bill becoming law are dim. President Bush is promising to veto the bill. The White House warns it would "hobble" U.S. commanders and "substantially endanger" the U.S. objective of a democratic Iraq.

In addition, the legislation is unlikely to survive in the Senate, where Democrats have not adopted a firm timetable for the war's end.

Democrats have opted instead to back other legislation which identifies March 2008 as the goal for troops to withdraw from Iraq.

Clinton Says a U.S. Scaled-Down Military Force is Needed

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democratic presidential candidate, said in a New York Times interview that if elected she would maintain a scaled-down American military force in Iraq that would stay off the streets in Baghdad and no longer would try to protect Iraqis from sectarian violence.

She cited "remaining vital national security interests" for a continued deployment of U.S. troops in Iraq aimed at fighting al-Qaeda, deterring Iran, protecting Kurds and possibly supporting the Iraqi military, the newspaper reported Wednesday night on its Web site.

She said her plan was consistent with the Senate resolution, saying it called for "a limited number" of troops to stay in Iraq to protect the U.S. Embassy and other personnel, train and equip Iraqi forces and conduct "targeted counterterrorism operations."

The Senate voted 89-9 on Wednesday to begin consideration of the measure, but debate quickly became bogged down after Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on how the debate should be handled.

While the House bill is unlikely to pass unchecked, Democrats say the bill's passage, even if by a slim majority, would be a loud message to the president to end the war.

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