Bush accuses Democrats
By setting timetable, Democrats say they are trying to do what public wants
Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: World News
WASHINGTON - President Bush turned up the rhetorical heat Tuesday on antiwar Democrats in Congress, saying that their insistence on adding troop-withdrawal terms to a war-spending bill risks delaying money that's needed within weeks and could endanger service members in Iraq.
In a wide-ranging news conference that also touched on a Supreme Court ruling, gasoline prices and Middle East diplomacy, Bush stressed his belief that Democrats are being "irresponsible" on Iraq. He repeated his threat to veto any bill that contains a troop-withdrawal date, warned that if war-funding legislation isn't signed by mid-April it could force cuts in equipment and training, and said further delay could force extended tours of duty for soldiers there.
The Senate passed a $123 billion war-spending bill last week that also called for most U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by March 31, 2008. The House of Representatives passed a similar measure the week before, which calls for American troops to be out by September 2008.
Democrats say they're trying to respond to the public majority, which wants to get out of Iraq while ensuring that troops who are there now get the money they need to protect themselves.
The president and most Republicans say the Democrats' stance undermines the troops and micro-manages a mission that's better left to the military, although Bush himself manages key elements of the war strategy, such as how many more troops to send to Iraq this year.
"The bottom line is this," the president said in the White House Rose Garden. "Congress' failure to fund our troops on the front lines will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines. Others could see their loved ones heading back to the war sooner than they need to."
Democrats responded in kind.
"The president today asked the American people to trust him as he continues to follow the same failed strategy that has drawn our troops further into an intractable civil war," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a written statement. "The president's policies have failed and his escalation endangers our troops and hurts our national security."
In a wide-ranging news conference that also touched on a Supreme Court ruling, gasoline prices and Middle East diplomacy, Bush stressed his belief that Democrats are being "irresponsible" on Iraq. He repeated his threat to veto any bill that contains a troop-withdrawal date, warned that if war-funding legislation isn't signed by mid-April it could force cuts in equipment and training, and said further delay could force extended tours of duty for soldiers there.
The Senate passed a $123 billion war-spending bill last week that also called for most U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by March 31, 2008. The House of Representatives passed a similar measure the week before, which calls for American troops to be out by September 2008.
Democrats say they're trying to respond to the public majority, which wants to get out of Iraq while ensuring that troops who are there now get the money they need to protect themselves.
The president and most Republicans say the Democrats' stance undermines the troops and micro-manages a mission that's better left to the military, although Bush himself manages key elements of the war strategy, such as how many more troops to send to Iraq this year.
"The bottom line is this," the president said in the White House Rose Garden. "Congress' failure to fund our troops on the front lines will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines. Others could see their loved ones heading back to the war sooner than they need to."
Democrats responded in kind.
"The president today asked the American people to trust him as he continues to follow the same failed strategy that has drawn our troops further into an intractable civil war," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a written statement. "The president's policies have failed and his escalation endangers our troops and hurts our national security."
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