Congressional Dems Ready for Showdown on Iraq

March 8, 2007 — -- The days of symbolic, nonbinding resolutions behind them, Democratic leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Thursday dug in their heels and set the stage for an aggressive debate over the future of the war in Iraq and for a showdown with the White House, which pledged to veto such efforts.

At a morning press conference, House speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., and House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Chairman Jack Murtha, D-Pa., introduced the $96 billion in supplemental spending for the Iraq War with major strings attached.

These include, most notably, that the Iraqi government meet President Bush's benchmarks for reform under penalty of immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops, as well as a timeline regardless of benchmarks met for ending all U.S. troop deployment in Iraq.

"No matter what," Pelosi said, "by March 2008, redeployment begins." And by August 2008, it will be completed, according to this bill.

"The proposal that we are talking about today will essentially redirect more resources to the war against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan," said Obey, "fighting the right war in the right place."

The House bill would also require that the Bush administration meet Pentagon standards for troop readiness in terms of unit readiness, length of time they can be deployed in Iraq, and length of time they can stay at home before they are sent back to Iraq. Pelosi's bill, however, grants Bush the authority to depart from Pentagon guidelines if he provides a report explaining why.

The president has long anticipated such a move, and speaking to the American Legion earlier in the week, fired a warning shot. "I ask the Congress to approve the funds we requested and our troops are counting on without strings and without delay," Bush said to applause. "Equally important to funding our troops is giving our commanders the flexibility to carry out their missions, without undue interference from politicians in Washington."