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US Democrats revive bill to bring Iraq troops home

US Senate Democrats are reviving legislation that would urge US President George W. Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq in a year, attaching it to a US$122 billion measure needed to pay for continuing the war.

The move puts Democrats on track for another confrontation with Bush over the war and with congressional Republicans, who are expected to try to block the measure by denying the bill 60 votes.

Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives are pushing a similar measure that would require that troops leave by late next year, a bill party officials predicted would pass yesterday, probably by a razor-thin margin.

"United States troops should not be policing a civil war, and the current conflict in Iraq requires principally a political solution," says a draft Senate bill circulated to members in anticipation of a committee vote yesterday.

The measure would provide nearly US$97 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and billions more in domestic aid and emergency relief programs. It would require that Bush begin bringing home some troops within four months of its passage, setting a nonbinding goal of having all combat troops out of Iraq by March 31 next year.

The provision is similar to a resolution the Senate rejected last week. It failed on a 50-48 vote, falling 12 votes shy of the 60 needed to pass, after Bush threatened to veto the legislation.

Unlike that resolution, Democrats think the spending legislation has a much better chance of passing. Democratic Senator Ben Nelson, who voted against last week's resolution, has agreed to support the spending bill because it outlines performance benchmarks for the Iraqi government.

The House was expected to vote yesterday on a US$124 billion spending bill to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House bill, which Bush also threatened to veto, would require that combat troops be out of Iraq before September next year, possibly sooner if the Iraqi government does not meet certain benchmarks.

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