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House to pass bill on ending war

An Iraqi youth answers questions as US soldiers from Baker Company 2-12 Infantry Battalion search his home in the Dora neighborhood of southern Baghdad, on Wednesday. The US Congress today began its latest showdown over Iraq, this time over setting a deadline of a little more than a year for full withdrawal of US troops from the country. PHOTO: AFP

House Democrats confidently predicted they can pass a bill to end the Iraq war before September of next year, even as their counterparts in the US Senate struggle just to get their war debate off the ground.

The House Appropriations Committee planned to vote yesterday on a US$124 billion spending bill that includes US$95.5 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure was expected to pass narrowly -- mostly along party lines with a few Democratic defectors -- paving the way for a floor vote next week.

The bill has been the first major test of unity among Democrats since they took control of the US Congress in January.

Party members agree the war should end, but have been deeply divided over how far to go to force President George W. Bush's hand.

"The members are thinking about the need for unity and the need to make sure the president doesn't go unchecked," said Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a chief deputy whip.

Members likely will not be allowed to offer amendments to the bill. However, prior to the final vote, Democratic chairman Representative David Obey, was expected to add a provision to delay Pentagon plans to close Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2011.

But prospects of the bill becoming law are dim. In addition to a White House veto threat and overwhelming Republican opposition to the bill, the legislation is unlikely to survive in the Senate, where Democrats have been reluctant to adopt a firm timetable to end the war.

Senate Democrats have opted instead to back softer legislation that would identify next March as a goal for troops to be out of Iraq.

Senator Hillary Clinton, a Democratic presidential candidate, said in a New York Times interview that if elected she would maintain a scaled-down US military force in Iraq that would stay off the streets in Baghdad and no longer try to protect Iraqis from sectarian violence.

She cited "remaining vital national security interests" for a continued deployment of US troops in Iraq aimed at fighting al-Qaeda, deterring Iran, protecting Kurds and possibly supporting the Iraqi military, the newspaper reported on Wednesday night on its Web site.

She said her plan was consistent with the Senate resolution, saying it called for "a limited number" of troops to stay in Iraq to protect the US embassy and other personnel, train and equip Iraqi forces and conduct "targeted counterterrorism operations."

The Senate voted 89-9 on Wednesday to begin consideration of the measure, but debate quickly became hamstrung again after Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on the parameters for a debate.

Aides said leaders were waiting to see a proposal by Republican Senator John Warner. According to a draft, Warner's resolution would outline benchmarks for the Iraqi government and call for an assessment of Iraqi security forces.

Warner's resolution stops short of calling for troops to leave Iraq by any particular date.

While the House bill is unlikely to sail through unchecked, Democrats say its passage -- even if by a slim majority -- would be a loud message to the president to end the war.

Its passage also would be a political victory for the Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi, who has struggled in trying to unify members of her party on the Iraq issue.

Democratic Representative Jim Moran, who had been skeptical of earlier drafts of the war spending bill, said he is now on board and believes Democratic defections will be few.

Pelosi was trying to line up votes from party liberals who want troops out of Iraq sooner than next year's deadline, as well as more conservative Democrats who are concerned the bill would micromanage the war.

Democratic Representative Barbara Lee, a member of the Appropriations Committee, has not said whether she will vote in favor of the bill.
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