Bush and Democrats Head for Showdown in Iraq
Bush and Democrats Head for Showdown in Iraq
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: April 16 2007 23:46 | Last updated: April 16 2007 23:46
President George W. Bush on Monday set the stage for his confrontation over Iraq with the Democratic leadership in Congress this week, reiterating that he would not accept their legislation tying a troop withdrawal timetable to his request for $100bn in additional war spending.
Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, said the president should start listening to the people who had lost confidence in his administration. The Democrats would go ahead and present the legislation in spite of the threat of veto, he said.
Joined at the White House by relatives of serving and killed soldiers, Mr Bush also invoked the US people: “Congress’s failure to fund our troops will mean that the readiness of our forces will suffer. This is unacceptable to me. It’s unacceptable to you. And it’s unacceptable to the vast majority of the American people.”
Opinion polls show the president does not enjoy strong support over the issue, however. A CBS poll last week showed that 57 per cent of respondents wanted a timetable for withdrawal sometime in 2008. A majority said Congress should allow war funding for only a limited amount of time and a plurality said Congress, not the president, should have the final say on troop levels.
Mr Bush is to meet Mr Reid and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, on Tuesday, to discuss the legislation, 10 weeks after he requested the supplementary budget.
He said he was “willing to discuss any way foward that does not hamstring our troops, set an artificial timetable for withdrawal and spend billions on projects not related to the war”.
Mr Reid also gave no ground. Declaring that Mr Bush’s “surge” strategy was not working, he said: “Vice-president [Dick] Cheney and President Bush refuse to listen or acknowledge the other voices. They’re isolated in their thinking and are failing our troops and our country.”
Senator Carl Levin, Democratic chairman of the armed services committee, repeated that if Mr Bush blocked legislation, then Democrats would go for a “second-best approach” that would tie US support for the Iraqi government to performance benchmarks.
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: April 16 2007 23:46 | Last updated: April 16 2007 23:46
President George W. Bush on Monday set the stage for his confrontation over Iraq with the Democratic leadership in Congress this week, reiterating that he would not accept their legislation tying a troop withdrawal timetable to his request for $100bn in additional war spending.
Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, said the president should start listening to the people who had lost confidence in his administration. The Democrats would go ahead and present the legislation in spite of the threat of veto, he said.
Joined at the White House by relatives of serving and killed soldiers, Mr Bush also invoked the US people: “Congress’s failure to fund our troops will mean that the readiness of our forces will suffer. This is unacceptable to me. It’s unacceptable to you. And it’s unacceptable to the vast majority of the American people.”
Opinion polls show the president does not enjoy strong support over the issue, however. A CBS poll last week showed that 57 per cent of respondents wanted a timetable for withdrawal sometime in 2008. A majority said Congress should allow war funding for only a limited amount of time and a plurality said Congress, not the president, should have the final say on troop levels.
Mr Bush is to meet Mr Reid and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, on Tuesday, to discuss the legislation, 10 weeks after he requested the supplementary budget.
He said he was “willing to discuss any way foward that does not hamstring our troops, set an artificial timetable for withdrawal and spend billions on projects not related to the war”.
Mr Reid also gave no ground. Declaring that Mr Bush’s “surge” strategy was not working, he said: “Vice-president [Dick] Cheney and President Bush refuse to listen or acknowledge the other voices. They’re isolated in their thinking and are failing our troops and our country.”
Senator Carl Levin, Democratic chairman of the armed services committee, repeated that if Mr Bush blocked legislation, then Democrats would go for a “second-best approach” that would tie US support for the Iraqi government to performance benchmarks.
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