WASHINGTON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate on
Thursday passed a bill that would require President George W. Bush to bring all
combat troops home from Iraq within a year.
On a 51-to-47 vote, Democrats narrowly pushed through
the 122-billion-U.S. dollar war funding bill, which includes a timeline to pull
out all U.S. combat troops by March 31, 2008.
The House passed a similar measure a week ago, which
would require the president to bring most combat troops home by September 2008.
The Senate and House bills must now be reconciled
through negotiations between the chambers.
Meanwhile, Bush renewed his pledge to veto any
measure "that restricts our commanders on the ground in Iraq."
"We expect there to be no strings on our commanders,"
he said, asserting again that both the House and Senate bills have unnecessary
spending tucked into their language.
Democrats have said they were ready to begin
House-Senate negotiations quickly to produce a final version to send to the
president.
But with Congress scheduled to begin its Easter
recess on Friday, it is nearly impossible for lawmakers to produce a final bill
before the week of April 16.
With Bush warning that funds will run out on April
15, forcing the Pentagon to draw from other accounts, the two sides seem certain
to wind up in a blame game over who is responsible for holding up the money.
The Democratic leaders are reportedly trying to
strike a conciliatory tone, stressing that they would deliver all the money Bush
requested.
In a joint letter to the president, they said they
stood ready to work with the White House.
"But your threats to veto a bill that has not even
been presented to you indicate that you may not be ready to work with us," the
letter said.
While they are hoping to capitalize on Bush's
unpopularity, Democrats acknowledged privately that they were uncertain how the
finger-pointing would play out.
Some recalled President Clinton's success in putting
the blame on Republicans for a 1995 government shutdown.
Nevertheless, the bill represents the Senate's first,
bold challenge on Bush's Iraq policies since Democrats took control of Congress
in January.
It came at a time when Bush and the Democrats are
already deadlocked over the Democrats' demands for testimony from top White
House staff in an investigation of the firings of 8 federal attorneys.
And the president's threat of vetoing Iraq timeline,
put himself in a difficult position of fighting the Democrats on two fronts.
Meanwhile, Democrats also admitted that even with the
unpopularity of Bush's war policy, they must move with caution.
"The president does have leverage on the troops,"
said Congressman Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat.
"But we have leverage on the policy and he has to be
cognizant of that," he said.
The new U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker takes an oath during a ceremony held at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad March 29, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
BAGHDAD, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, was sworn in at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at the embassy, which once was Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace, and was attended by U.S. Lieutenant General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. forces in Iraq, and embassy officials, U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said. Full story
WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President
George W. Bush vowed Wednesday not to negotiate with Congress on setting a
timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq.
In a speech delivered to the National Cattlemen's
Beef Association, Bush said the American people would blame lawmakers if there
is any delay in approving money for the war effort due tolegislative battle over
such a timetable. Full story
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S.
Senate Democrats won a key vote on Tuesday that clears the way for setting a
date by which most U.S. troops would be required to leave Iraq, CBS News
reported.
Democrats defeated by a vote of 50-48 the
Republican effort to strip language from the 122 billion-U.S. dollar Iraq
supplemental spending bill that will require most combat soldiers to leave Iraq
within a year, according to the report. Full story
Print
