The Democratic-led US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq, defying George W. Bush, the president, by tying the measure to $50bn in new war funds reports Reuters in the Financial Times.
By a vote of 218-203, the House sent the controversial plan to the Senate, where it faced an uphill fight as Republicans have vowed to block it.
Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman, called on Congress to send Mr. Bush a “clean” emergency funding bill, without withdrawal dates.
“If legislation comes to the president in this form, he will certainly veto it,” Ms Perino said after the House vote.
The House vote came on the same day that an explosion in Baghdad brought more US casualties, adding to what already was the Iraq war’s bloodiest year for American forces.
The House bill, backed by four Republicans, is similar to a plan Mr. Bush vetoed in May that would have begun the immediate withdrawal of some US combat troops from Iraq, who have been fighting there since March 2003.
By December 15, 2008, all American combat soldiers would be out. In a disappointment to liberal Democrats, that date would be a non-binding goal.
“It will set parameters and it will say, ‘Mr. President, we need to change policies,’” said Steny Hoyer, House Majority Leader and Maryland Democrat.
Anti-war Democrats increasingly are challenging their leaders to withhold any more money for the war unless new conditions are placed on Mr Bush, who has talked about a long-term military commitment in Iraq.
In warning of a presidential veto, the administration said it opposes setting any “arbitrary date” for withdrawal. The Democrats’ bill “unwisely abandons the cause of freedom and stability in the Middle East,” it said.
The $50bn in new funds, far below the $196bn Mr. Bush has requested for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, would last an estimated four months. Democrats hope the money would be used to start changing the US mission from one of combat to protecting US facilities there, training Iraqis and conducting counter-terrorism operations.
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