Controversial war bill headed to Bush

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Congressional leaders hope to finish the emergency war spending bill this week. President Bush has said he will veto the bill if it contains a timetable for withdrawal or $20 billion in spending unrelated to the war effort.

Both Democrats and Republicans have signaled that they want to get the bill to Bush before the end of the month so negotiations can begin on a new spending bill — one some members contend will contain strict benchmarks for success in Iraq without timetables for pulling out.

This week’s final negotiations come amid rising tensions between Democrats on Capitol Hill, who say the war is hopeless, and Bush, who maintains that victory is still within U.S. grasp.

When Bush visited Michigan Friday to drum up public support for continuing the effort, Democrats issued a fact sheet describing the costs of the war for Michiganders. It included headings such as Michigan families “shattered by the war” and “Michigan lives cut short by the President’s Iraq plan.”

Earlier in the week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters, “This war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything.” Reid referred to Bush’s plan this year to add some 21,000 reinforcement troops to the region.

Republicans pointed to comments by Gary Kurpius, head of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who said Friday in response to Reid’s remarks, “You can’t support the troops without supporting what it is they do.” Like an increasing number of Democrats and even some Republicans, Kurpius raised the specter of Vietnam.

Reid, who voted in favor of the war in Iraq, “would have us repeat history again and have America known for the rest of the 21st century as a nation that can’t finish what it starts,” he said.

If Bush vetoes the current spending measure, as is widely expected, Democrats are unlikely to muster the two-thirds majorities necessary in both chambers to override the veto. Only a bare minimum in both chambers support the current spending legislation.

House Democrats on Friday also floated proposals to approve temporary spending measures that would continue funding the war for two to six months. But these are unlikely to win the support necessary among Senate Democrats.

churt@dcexaminer.com

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