:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::

:: 3.24.2007 ::

:: "Congress passes war funding bill with controversial timetable" ::

wacotrib.com
By David Doerr

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a spending bill Friday that would set a timetable to begin pulling troops out of Iraq and to redirect the primary mission of American forces’ fight against terrorism in the Middle East.

Ignoring a veto threat from President Bush, lawmakers voted 218-212, mostly along party lines, for a $124 billion war spending bill that requires combat operations to cease before September 2008, or earlier if the Iraqi government doesn’t meet certain requirements.

The vote marks the first time Congress has used its budget power to try redirecting the course of the war, now entering its fifth year.

“What we’re trying to do in this legislation is force the Iraqis to fight their own war,” said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who helped write the bill.

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, voted to support the resolution, saying it was the first step in pressuring Iraqi political leaders to take responsibility of their nation’s future.

“I believe that in a war that has now lasted longer than America’s involvement in World War II, it is time to send a clear message to Iraqi politicians that they must take more responsibility to protect their nation from what is increasingly becoming a religious civil war,” he said in a statement.

“Now the future of Iraq depends on Iraqi political leaders’ willingness to end their corruption, to stop religious infighting and to start using their vast oil wealth to improve their economy.”

Read more here.

posted by me

:: 12:32:00 AM [+] ::
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