Middle East News
Bush signs Iraq funding bill passed by reluctant Congress
May 26, 2007, 3:59 GMT
Washington - US President George W Bush late Friday signed into law a 96-billion-dollar spending bill for the war in Iraq after a reluctant Congress conceded in a long-running dispute with the White House and removed deadlines for troop withdrawals.
Bush referred to the dispute in a statement, saying: 'Rather than mandate arbitrary timetables for troop withdrawals or micromanage our military commanders, this legislation enables our servicemen and women to follow the judgement of commanders on the ground.'
Bush vetoed an earlier version that contained firm deadlines for withdrawal by 2008.
The law passed after the centre-left Democrats now in control of both houses of Congress failed to muster the necessary two-thirds majorities to override a presidential veto.
The compromise legislation comes after weeks of negotiations between the opposition Democrats and the White House, as funding for the US military presence in Iraq began to dwindle during an ongoing surge of 20,000 US troops ordered by Bush in January.
Many Democrats said that they voted against the bill because it did not go far enough to begin planning for the departure of US troops from the Iraq conflict, which began with an invasion ordered by Bush in March 2003.
As part of the compromise, Bush supported a Republican proposal that includes 18 benchmarks that the Iraqi government must meet or risk losing financial support. Some Democrats argue the benchmarks are too weak and difficult to enforce.
Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, both top candidates for the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nomination, voted against the measure without deadlines.
Clinton, who voted in 2002 to authorize military action in Iraq, has struggled to placate the left wing of her party, which still resents her early support for what they see as Bush's war.
'The antiwar movement will not be silenced by this setback - we will continue to organize and make our voices heard,' said Judith Le Blanc, co-chairwoman of United for Peace and Justice, an anti-war coalition. 'This Congress has the power to end the war, and they must find the political will to accomplish what they were elected to do.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
That's because the Democrats like to kiss butt. They love it. They love wiping their noses in Cheneys and Bush's cracks.
Sick Bastards,
RR
Ah, but remember, according to HRH Pelosi, Bush's plan is unraveling. Yeah, you go girl!
This Congress was elected to lead us away from the terribly expensive war going on. That they would not stand up to Bully Bush when the going got tough is an indication to me that they know how to say all the right things to get into office and do not have the resolve to back up those words with action. My guess is the voters will remember that the next time they go to a polling place.
Michael from Anchorage
My guess is that the defense contractor lobbyists finally 'donated' enough $$$ to the Dems to make them realize how wrong they were for calling to get out of this quagmire... I'd say let's all vote them out in 2008 but do we really want
McCain/Guliani ???
Too bad Ron Paul has stirred up the wrath of the right by telling the truth
about Iraq and supporting anti immigration ...
My guess is that the defense contractor lobbyists finally 'donated' enough $$$ to the Dems to make them realize how wrong they were for calling to get out of this quagmire... I'd say let's all vote them out in 2008 but do we really want
McCain/Guliani ???
Too bad Ron Paul has stirred up the wrath of the right by telling the truth
about Iraq and supporting anti immigration ...
The Dems acted responsibily. Bush should savor this 'victory' since Iraq is going down as a US defeat with only him and his Repub supporters in Congress to blame. As a former Republican, I hope history is not kind to these crooks.
'The Dems acted responsibily.'
By sending our military out on a limb and then trying to cut it off behind them?
No, they have behaved horribly in a cynical grab at power at the countries expense.
Patriotism 101 : The Iraq War
1) Administrations do not go to war, nations do. We did not fight the Nazis, we fought the Germans. The Nazis had no armies, the Germans did. America is at war. This is not Bush's war, it is ours. If you do not consider this your war, then you missed the patriotism boat, because it is. To think of this as someone else's war is to think of yourself as no longer part of American society.
2) Once committed to war, the only option is to win. We already won the original war in Iraq--against Saddam Hussein. But this is a different war. The war today is against violent Islamists, all related in one way or another to al Qaeda or Khommeinists in Iran.
Oddly, the Democrats supported the war against Saddam Hussein, but seem intent on losing to al Qaeda and Iran in Iraq. If anything, the meritis of this second war in Iraq are far greater than the merits of the war with Saddam Hussein.
If the Democrats point is that the first war, against Hussein, caused the second war, against al Qaeda and Iranian proxies, then I am happy to admit that we are at fault. Yes, removing Hussein from power led to a power vacuum in which Khommeinists and al Qaeda jihadists emerged. Our postwar military actions certainly didn't help.
So, because our actions against one enemy led to the emergence of a far more dangerous second enemy, then the answer is to ...... not fight the greater second enemy?
That logic baffles the mind! We defeated the Nazis, but that victory led to the emergence of a far more powerful and deadly enemy---the Soviet Union. The Nazis only wanted to control Europe, but the Soviet Unions had in mind the worldwide people's state. And, even worse, they had the weapons and capability of killing every single soul on the entire world.
By the logic of Democrats today, fighting the Soviet Union for 50 years in the Cold War was a mistake because it was 'hard', 'costly', a 'mire', seemingly 'endless', and because our own actions led to that war.
3) Root for the home team, or get the hell out of the stadium.
And to think why the rest of the world hates the Americans so much. Just read all the garbage you have spewed forth!!!
'And to think why the rest of the world hates the Americans so much.'
The 'rest of the world' doesn't hate Americans, despite what the BBC tells you, you rube.
For those who would pound their chests & claim a political GOP/Presidential victory regarding this reluctantly passed bill, it's equivalent to the retard who jumps off a cliff and before impacting the rocks, believes he's flying. Of historical note will be the president's veto and threatened second veto. This truly now is Bush's war... and this band-aid economic package is going to do nothing to improve the outcome of an ill-advised preemptive invasion of an impoverished nation with resultant destabilization and proliferation of terror groups worldwide.
900 million people across the world are hungry, up from 880 million a year ago. Every day, approximately 18,000 children die from hunger-related causes…almost one child every four seconds. Hunger is the most extreme form of poverty, where individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic need for food. Hunger manifests itself in many ways other than starvation and famine. Most poor people who battle hunger deal with chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which result in stunted growth, weakness and heightened susceptibility to illness. Countries in which a large portion of the population battles hunger daily are usually poor and often lack the social safety nets Occidental nations enjoy, such as soup kitchens, welfare, social services and job training programs. When a family that lives in a poor country cannot grow enough food or earn enough money to buy food, there is nowhere to turn for help. The hungry people of the world need not turn to the U.S., all American money is being used to kill people, not save lives. The pro-Zionist U.S. Congress just approved another $100 billion to continue funding the neo-Crusader war to destroy Islam, steal the Iraqi oil, placate the Middle East for those racists in Israel, build pipelines to carry oil and natural gas from Central Asia thru Afghanistan and seize control of the Afghan heroin/opium drug trade until September 2007. To feed the 18,000 children who die each day for one Gregorian calendar year (365 days) at a rate of $50 daily would cost $328.5 million. The U.K. and the other devilish Coalition nations have invested vast amounts of money to kill Muslims. This is not taking into account the thousands of Materialists soldiers who have needlessly been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Surely their families regret sacrificing their loved ones upon the alter of imperialism. Perhaps even worse off than the dead are those who have been badly injured, maimed or driven to insanity, drug addiction and/or alcoholism by the horrors of war. They must live a bitter, angry, guilty and lonely life missing a limb, or with a tragically disfigured face. In madness they will eventually die, never reaping the spoils of war that they fought for. No, they were simply cannon-fodder for the pro-Zionist war profiteers. Everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan a Coalition soldier is wastefully dying, dozens injured. Nightly an American female soldier is raped by an U.S. military man in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each day scores of Iraqi and Afghani non-combatant civilians are murdered by Coalition forces. Many Iraqis are killed by bombs planted by the C.I.A. or the Mossad to ferment sectarian violence. The Occidental man will spend fortunes to kill rather than using their wealth and technology for benevolent purposes. The Occidental nations have the resources to feed the world, teach and show the world how to feed itself, and provide the world with the materials and technology to forever feed itself. But the Occidental nations have only gone around the world and raped and usurped the natural and human resources of peoples of color, be they black, brown, red, or yellow. The Occidental man, because of his originally living in socially repressed caves, in a colder climate and his inherent barbarism, has a propensity for violence and war. The Occidentals devilishly ignore the suffering of the poor peoples of the world and are driven only by avarice and hedonistic materialism. Islam is the only obstacle to the Occidental nations and their bastard child Israel from economic, military, and thusly, social control of the world. Hence, Islam must be destroyed and any manifestation of political Islam defeated. Christendom has embarked upon a foolhardy neo-Crusader war on Islam. But the devilish schemes of Occidentals will fail. Soon the Muslim freedom fighters will force the U.S./U.K. Coalition into a shameful and humiliating retreat. Soon the Crucifixer invaders will be expelled and the Islamic lands will be cleansed of the filth and perversion of the occupying minions of Satan. The President of The United Snakes of America George W. Bush has, in his neo-Crusader misadventure in Iraq, furthered the Islamic revolutionary vision of the late Imam Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran by hastening the establishment of an anti-Zionist, Shia Islamic State in Iraq. If the Occidental nations want to make friends with the peoples of the world, simply give them food and assistance; don’t drop bombs on them.
I broke my own rule for being as cynical as possible about politicians because you're always so much closer to the truth.
Here's the way it's going to pan out: The Democrats have done nothing and will do nothing, except point fingers. The Republicans will promulgate the Big Lie again and again. The Iraq misadventure will end badly and both will take credit for a victory. Nobody will be impeached or driven out of office. The public will apply their philosophy of 'I'm all right, Jack, ---- you!' The media will suck up and bend over. Iraq will be destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of civilians will be dead. Millions will be displaced. Thousands of troops will be dead and tens of thousands wounded. People will make a lot of money writing books taking both sides. And that's all, folks. Both parties, the electorate, and the media are and will be total losses when it comes to moral propriety. And many, many, many people will be desperately unhappy and vulnerable to violence.
But you forgot, as everyone else has here, the real underlying reason for all of this in the first place. WE WILL HAVE CONTROL OF IRAQI OIL FIELDS FOREVER AND EVER AMEN.
@U.S. KILLERS
I changed 'and' to 'additionally' on this one dear moderator, please be fair and pull both if you are going to pull one.
'The hungry people of the world need not turn to the U.S., all American money is being used to kill people, not save lives.'
The USA gives more money to charity then any other country in the world. A recent report that 'per capita' the USA was not number 1 in giving did not take in to account private donations as well as governmental donations. Again the USA gives more money then any other country.
If you weren't so consumed with hate, savagery and jihad maybe you wouldn't need so much charity from the 'Occidentals'. Regardless, if you are too stupid to see that your behavior is EXACTLY the reason that the rest of humanity has left you behind why should it be someone else's responsibility to feed you? After all, as you have said yourself, your objective is subjugating us under your dark ages theology. Maybe you should ask Mohammad for charity.
' The Occidental nations have the resources to feed the world, teach and show the world how to feed itself,'
Try learning to live like humans and not like savage beasts and then we will talk about upping the amount of charity we give you. (Your allowance) Better yet, don't have so many children that you have no hope of providing for. Then you won't have to go crawling to the kafir that you despise to provide for them.
'The Occidental man, because of his originally living in socially repressed caves, in a colder climate and his inherent barbarism, has a propensity for violence and war. '
Then why are we rich and you are asking us for money to feed yourselves? Wouldn't that be 'humiliating' to ask such people for money?
'If the Occidental nations want to make friends with the peoples of the world, simply give them food and assistance; don’t drop bombs on them.'
Grow up, evolve, stop blaming everyone else for your stupidity and learn to feed yourselves. While you are at it, get out of the 'Occidental nation' you are in and go back to the cesspool that you came from. You are obviously living off Occidental charity since you couldn't be employed and still have so much time to post your effluence.
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laMay 26th, 2007 - 13:42:57
But, Bush DID compromise on this important piece of legislation. He magnanimously offered to stand on His chair in the Oval Office so that the Democrats could kiss His Butt without bending over. What a guy!
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