US President George W. Bush warned on Tuesday that a drawn-out fight over war spending will only harm US troops in Iraq and scolded Congress for going on vacation before the matter was resolved.
A day before Bush was to leave for his own Easter break, he also repeated his vow to veto any measure that would tie the release of more than US$120 billion in military spending to a timetable for US troop withdrawal from Iraq.
If Congress does not approve a war funding bill in coming weeks, "the price of that failure will be paid by our troops and their loved ones," Bush told reporters.
"Congress's most basic responsibilities [are] to give our troops the equipment and training they need to fight our enemies and to protect our nation. They're now failing in that responsibility," he said.
"Now they have left Washington for spring recess without finishing the work. Democrat leaders in Congress seem more interested in fighting political battles in Washington than providing our troops what they need to fight the battles in Iraq," Bush said.
Senate Democrats on Monday raised the stakes in the bitter fight, unveiling a new bid to cut off nearly all funding for the Iraq war after March 31 next year if Bush vetoes the bill they plan to submit to the White House.
The date was set as a goal for withdrawing most combat troops in the US$122 billion war budget bill passed by the Senate.
The measure, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Russ Feingold, would permit funding only for operations against al-Qaeda, training and equipping Iraqi troops and protecting US personnel and installations.
Democrats plan to officially unveil the new legislation on Tuesday when the Senate returns from its Easter break.
Bush, meanwhile, was to have lunch with soldiers and their families at a military base in California yesterday before retreating to his Crawford, Texas ranch ahead of the Easter holiday.
"The bottom line is this: Congress's failure to fund our troops on the frontline also means that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines," Bush warned.
"And others can see their loved ones headed back to the war sooner than they need to. That is unacceptable to me, and I believe it is unacceptable to the American people," he said.
Senator Hillary Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for next year's presidential election, asked supporters to petition Bush to drop his veto threat.
"The American people have had enough of the president's failed strategy in Iraq," read the message on Clinton's presidential campaign Web site.
"Join Hillary in telling him to listen to the will of the people and to Congress, withdraw his veto threat and begin phased deployment of the troops out of Iraq," it read.
Reid said Monday he would aim to bring the bill back before the Senate if the president were to veto it and Feingold told supporters via e-mail: "Our bill funds the troops, it just de-funds the war."
Democrats who swept to power in last November's election still lack the large majorities in the two-chamber Congress needed to overcome a Bush veto and are depending on widespread fatigue over the war to keep the public on their side.
The White House is also playing to the public, declaring that Congress is giving the enemy a timetable to take over.
Negotiators in Congress are spending the recess reconciling the House and Senate versions of the budget bill so a compromise version can be sent to Bush's desk for signing.
The House version of the war budget contains a withdrawal deadline of Aug. 31 next year.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of