BUSH VETOES IRAQ SPENDING BILL

President warns withdrawing troops would be ‘prescription for chaos’
MSNBC and NBC News

Updated: 8:21 p.m. ET May 1, 2007

President Bush used his veto pen for only the second time Tuesday after
Congress sent him a war spending bill that would impose timelines to
withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, which he called a “prescription for chaos.”

The bill is unacceptable because it “substitutes the opinions of politicians
for the judgments of our military commanders,” the president said in a
nationally televised address to explain why he was vetoing a bill that
would also provide more than $100 billion in emergency spending for
the war.

“This is a prescription for chaos and confusion, and we must not impose
it on our troops,” Bush said. “... It makes no sense to tell the enemy when
you plan to start withdrawing.”

Bush blamed Democrats for trying to send an empty political statement
and added: “They’ve sent their message, and now it’s time to put politics
behind us and support our troops with the funds.”

Bush’s dramatic statement came only a few hours after Democratic leaders
of Congress staged a festive ceremony at the Capitol to celebrate sending
the bill to the president. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused
Bush of putting U.S. troops “in the middle of a civil war” in Iraq.

Override bid likely to fail

The House scheduled a vote to try to override the veto for Wednesday,
but Democratic leaders were not expected to have enough Republican
support to succeed. Congressional leaders will meet with Bush at the
White House on Wednesday to discuss follow-up legislation.

Democrats are considering a bill that would fund the troops but still
restrict the president’s leeway in Iraq. Democratic leaders told NBC News
they expected such a proposal to drive away some Democrats who have
come under intense pressure from liberal activist groups to accept nothing
less than a troop withdrawal.

The officials acknowledged that such a strategy would force them to seek
Republican support for any alternative, and Senate Republican leaders
told NBC News that they might be open to legislation that would set
benchmarks of progress for the Iraqi government to meet.

“There are some types of benchmarks that might well achieve bipartisan
support and might actually even conceivably be helpful to the efforts in
Iraq,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

But Republicans were reluctant to say whether they supported benchmarks
with real consequences. Some said they would support tying benchmarks
to foreign aid to Iraq totaling more than $5 billion but nothing that would
tie the hands of military commanders.

“It depends on what the benchmarks are and what the consequences are,”
said Trent Lott of Mississippi, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.

Democrats go on the offensive

Democratic leaders accused Bush of disregarding the wishes of Congress
and the public by refusing to consider ending the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

“The president wants a blank check. The Congress is not going to give it
to him,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said after Bush’s speech.
“If the president thinks by vetoing this bill he’ll stop us from working to
change the course of the war in Iraq, he is mistaken.”

Reid contended that Bush had rejected a measure that would “fully fund
the troops” and asserted, “Now he has a responsibility to explain his plan
to responsibly end this war.”

The leading Democratic contenders for president also weighed in, calling
on Bush to accept the need for a troop withdrawal.

“With one stroke of his pen, President Bush has stubbornly ignored the
will of the American people, the majority of Congress and, most disturbingly,
the realities on the ground in Iraq,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Noting that the bill also included $35 million for new homeland security
initiatives, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., called on Bush to “stop
disregarding the will of the American people and to work with Democrats
on a funding bill that will enable us to begin redeploying our troops.”

Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., put pressure on congressional
Republicans to stand up to Bush, challenging them to “stand firm and strong.”

“Congress should answer the president’s veto by sending him another
bill with a timetable for withdrawal. And if he vetoes that one, Congress
should send him another and another until we end this war and bring
our troops home,” he said.

4th anniversary of ‘Mission Accomplished’

Bush has vetoed legislation only once before in nearly 6½ years in
office. Last July, he killed a bill that would have loosened restrictions
on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

Coincidentally or not, the new showdown comes on the fourth anniversary
of Bush’s so-called Mission Accomplished speech aboard an aircraft carrier.

“It is a trumped-up political stunt that is the height of cynicism,” White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. “It is very disturbing to think
that they possibly held up this money for the troops and troops’ families
and the resources that they need to try some PR stunt on this day.”

Pelosi denied that the timing was intentional. She told reporters that she
was attending the funeral of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Calif.,
on Monday and was unavailable to sign the submission until Tuesday.

© 2007 MSNBC InteractiveBy MSNBC.com’s Alex Johnson with NBC’s
Chip Reid and Mike Viqueira in Washington.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18412464/
© 2007 MSNBC.com