US Democrats craft Iraq troop withdrawal deadline
Source: Reuters
By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have tentatively settled on a timetable and conditions for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, which they hope to attach to a $100 billion Iraq war spending bill, senior lawmakers said on Wednesday. The lawmakers said they hoped to win approval of the plan by the House Appropriations Committee next week. If the House passes the Democratic money bill this month, it likely would face a tough fight in the 100-member Senate, where Democrats have a very slim majority over Republicans and legislative rules often require a 60-vote margin to advance controversial bills. A House Democratic aide indicated the bill would set a timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw if Iraqis did not meet deadlines for taking responsibility to secure their country. Some liberal Democrats had been pushing for a 2008 deadline for withdrawing combat troops from Iraq unconditionally. "I think you'll see basically what I wanted to do and a timetable (in the bill) for what the Iraqis have to do," Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, told a small group of reporters. Murtha, who chairs a House Appropriations panel overseeing military funding, including the hundreds of billions of dollars already spent on the Iraq war, said details of the legislation were being presented to rank-and-file Democrats. He said the measure would provide $1.7 billion more than the Bush administration requested for troop health care. That would respond to recent disclosures of shoddy conditions at Walter Reed military hospital in Washington and other facilities. Murtha, a former Marine and a fierce advocate of withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq, wants to stop President George W. Bush from adding at least 21,500 combat troops to the 139,000 U.S. soldiers already in Iraq. IRAQ SECURITY RESPONSIBILITIES Under language he has talked about since January, Murtha would require the Pentagon to certify U.S. troops are properly trained, equipped and rested before going to Iraq. That could be difficult given how thinly stretched the military has become after four years of combat. Democrats also want to write into the emergency war funding bill language requiring Iraq's government to take over its security responsibilities. Neither Murtha nor other key Democrats were willing to provide full details of the bill until fellow lawmakers were briefed. That was expected to happen on Thursday. The legislation also is expected to give Bush authority to waive some of the conditions, possibly by requiring him to state publicly that troops were being sent into battle without proper preparation, a potentially damaging admission. House Republican Whip Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, told reporters about 17 Republicans might end up voting with the Democrats when it reaches the House floor. Seventeen House Republicans voted for a nonbinding resolution the House passed last month stating opposition to increasing U.S. troop strength in Iraq. Blunt also indicated that House Republicans, who mostly have continued to support the unpopular war in Iraq, could begin losing their patience. "It would be extraordinarily helpful to get some good news from Iraq. And sooner rather than later," Blunt said when asked how long Republicans would stick with Bush. Senate Democrats were also trying this week to reach agreement on a proposed resolution on Iraq and planned to discuss it at a meeting on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, told reporters. (Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro and Susan Cornwell)
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