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Bush condemns Democrats’ Iraq spending bill |
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By Jeremy Jacobs
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Posted: 03/31/07 04:25 PM [ET] |
President Bush reiterated his criticism of the Democrats’ supplemental Iraq spending bills Saturday, setting the stage for a showdown with congressional Democrats over what could be his second presidential veto.
“Each of the Democrats’ bills would substitute the judgment of politicians in Washington for that of our generals on the ground,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “Each bill would impose restrictive conditions on our military commanders. Each bill would also set an arbitrary deadline for surrender and withdrawal in Iraq, and I believe that would have disastrous consequences for our safety here at home.”
Bush added that because of those reasons and the “billions of dollars in domestic spending completely unrelated to the war [included in the legislation]” he will veto the bill.
The $122 billion Senate bill calls for a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops by March 31, 2008. The House bill provides $124 billion for the Iraq war and requires a complete redeployment of combat troops by August 31, 2008. The House bill also mandates a system of benchmarks for the Iraqi government. If the Iraqi government fails to meet those benchmarks, U.S. troops would be withdrawn at an earlier date.
Democrats fired a salvo of their own at the president in their weekly radio address directly following the president’s Saturday morning. The Democrats tapped retired Marine Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Horne to speak on their behalf. Horne wasted little time attacking the president’s veto threat.
“If the president vetoes this bill because he doesn’t want to formally demonstrate progress in Iraq, never in the history of war would there be a more blatant example of a commander-in-chief undermining the troops,” Horne said.
“The commander-in-chief has failed to properly lead the troops,” Horne also said. |
