Now that President Bush has vetoed a funding bill that would have set a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from
It’s not a new idea. In fact,
The New York Times gave
Score one for the underdog.
But the Times didn’t go back far enough. When Congressional Democrats began developing the proposal several weeks ago to tie war funding to a timeline for withdrawal,
“As I said in my February speech to the (Democratic National Committee) and have repeated many times since, this is the best course of action,” he said. “… I welcome Senator Clinton’s endorsement of my approach, and I urge Congress to embrace this course of action and show the president that his defiance of the will of the American people and a vote of Congress will not stand.”
It is sort of odd that
Either way, approval of such a resolution would set up quite a fight. It’s not clear whether de-authorization would mean Bush would have to withdraw the troops, the Times reports. Bush could claim that Congress can’t withdraw an earlier authorization and can only end the war by denying funding.
Knowing this president’s resolve – some would call it stubbornness – that’s exactly what he would do.
Such a fight could end up in court.
Update, 3:40 p.m.
I neglected to tell you earlier that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden began calling for a de-authorization and a new resolution that comes with limitations about the same time