Despite constant threats from President Bush to veto the bill, the US Senate narrowly approved the war spending bill by 51-47 votes that also adds the withdrawal of the majority of the U.S. troops from Iraq by March next year. The bill provides $122 billion to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is about $20 billion more demanded by the Bush administration. Apart from the two Republicans, Sens. Chuck Hagel and Gordon Smith, who crossed over to join the Democrats to support the war funding package, most of the votes fell with the party lines. Sens. Mike Enzi (R) and Tim Johnson (D) were not present in the vote, whereas independent Sen. Joseph L. Lieberman opposed the bill with Republicans. According to the bill majority of the US troops will start leaving the borders of Iraq after March 31, 2008, within a time-limit of 120 days. A small number of troops will remain in Iraq even after the troops withdrawal timeline to keep tabs on Islamic militants, to carry out counterterrorism training and perform safety operation. There are more chances that the war funding bill will just sneak through, as majority of the Republicans don’t want to delay the much needed support to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mitch McConnell, Republican from Kentucky, asserted, I think the sooner we can get this bill … down to the president for veto, we can get serious about passing a bill that will get money to the troops. The bill becomes even important for Democrats, as the legislation stands for the first major challenge to the Bush administration’s foreign or war policies, especially Iraq and Afghanistan, since they claimed the majority in the US Congress in January. Moreover, the war spending bill has just marked a, slender but steady, progress by Democrats over the small duration, which even Democrats want to prove to the people who sent them to US the Congress in majority.
May
20
