From Deseret News archives:
U.S. House says: Bring them home
Demos claim victory with the vote to withdraw troops from Iraq in '08
Just over an hour later, an angry Bush accused Democrats of staging nothing more than political theater and said that if the spending bill is not approved and signed into law by April 15, troops and their families "will face significant disruptions."
Ignoring Bush's promised veto, lawmakers voted 218-212, mostly along party lines, for a binding war spending bill requiring that combat operations cease before September 2008, or earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet certain requirements. Democrats said it was time to heed the mandate of their election sweep last November, which gave them control of Congress.
"The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The American people see the reality of the war, the president does not."
Joined at the White House by veterans and service family members, Bush said: "A narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law and brings us no closer to getting the troops the resources they need to do their job.
The House vote, echoing clashes between lawmakers and the White House over the Vietnam War four decades ago, pushed the Democrat-led Congress a step closer to a constitutional collision with the wartime commander in chief. Bush has insisted that lawmakers allow more time for his strategy of sending nearly 30,000 additional troops to Iraq to work.
The roll call also marked a triumph for Pelosi, who labored in recent days to bring together a Democratic caucus deeply divided over the war. Some of the party's more liberal members voted against the bill because they said it would not end the war immediately, while more conservative Democrats said they were reluctant to take away flexibility from generals in the field.
Republicans were almost completely unified in their fight against the bill, which they said was tantamount to admitting failure in Iraq.
"The stakes in Iraq are too high and the sacrifices made by our military personnel and their families too great to be content with anything but success," said Republican Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
Comments
- Exhibit serves Old Masters revisions 3:21 p.m.
- Cheat Sheet: Shoveling snow 3:18 p.m.
- 50-plus crowd loves Web dating 3:18 p.m.
- Why do we hate? Academics ask 3:18 p.m.
- Palliative medicine draws doctors 3:18 p.m.
- Relationship: Thanksgiving 3:18 p.m.
- Survival strategies for 'Black Friday' 3:18 p.m.
- A garden fit for a Hobbit 3:13 p.m.
- Green Bay beats 49ers 30-24 3:00 p.m.
- Lions beat Browns 38-37 2:58 p.m.
- Glenn Beck to enter politics?
- BYU records with win
- Jazz outlast Pistons in overtime
- Cougars turn focus to dreaded rivals
- Police link alcohol to murder
- Utah Utes whip SDSU
- Former BYU professor remembered
- Cougars put the fun back in football
- Kirilenko heating up for the Jazz
- Y. coach Hill up for Portland State job
- Buttars wants to limit gay rights laws
200 - Palin plans tour stop in Utah
177 - Glenn Beck to enter politics?
176 - Palin's book shows she's unqualified
124 - BYU records with win
124 - Officer cleared in Cardall Taser case
103 - BYU cuts Women's Research Inst.
100 - Jazz finally win in San Antonio
98 - Utes knock off rival Aggies
93 - Huntsman pleased with Obama
87
I don't pretend to be an expert on global warming. I've met with...
ohh babbyy.. here comes the time of thanksgiving and of coarse its time for...
Shouldn't she should worry about what her own children are up to before she...
Sexism? You've got to be kidding me! What this is, is uncontrolled anger,...
I also knew Martha and yes the paper does have it wrong. Martha was an...
1. Stay in a lame duck govenor job for a few hundred thousand dollars, where...
"Secular ethics is a better measure of a man's conduct of right and good."...
I think she would do a great job as President and solve all of our serious...
They made it! Go get em cats make a deep run! At William & Mary is the first...
to go 1-3 against BYU. Then you can start rebuilding!
I'm so glad I don't live in Utah anymore, where people are so content to...


You can be the first to comment on this story.