Bush Vetoes Iraq Funding Bill

President Bush vetoed legislation to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq Tuesday night in a historic showdown with Congress over whether the unpopular and costly war should end or escalate.

In only the second veto of his presidency, Mr. Bush rejected legislation pushed by Democratic leaders that would require the first U.S. combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by Oct. 1 with a goal of a complete pullout six months later.

"This is a prescription for chaos and confusion and we must not impose it on our troops," Bush said in a nationally broadcast statement from the White House. He said the bill would "mandate a rigid and artificial deadline" for troop pullouts, and "it makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing."

Democrats made a last-minute plea for Mr. Bush to sign the bill, knowing their request would be ignored. "The president has put our troops in the middle of a civil war," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "Reality on the ground proves what we all know: A change of course is needed."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the legislation "respects the wishes of the American people to end the Iraq war."

A Senate Democrat says they've pushed their demand for troop deadlines as far as they can, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod. Democrats know they don't have the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto.

Lacking the votes to override the president, Democratic leaders quietly considered what might be included or kept out of their next version of the $124 billion spending bill. Mr. Bush will meet with congressional leaders — Democrats and Republicans alike — on Wednesday to discuss a new bill.

Mr. Bush said Democrats had made a political statement by passing anti-war legislation. "They've sent their message, and now it's time to put politics behind us and support our troops with the funds," the president said.

He said the need to act is urgent because without a war-funding bill, the armed forces will have to consider cutting back on buying or repairing equipment.

"Our troops and their families deserve better, and their elected leaders can do better," Mr. Bush said.

He vetoed the bill immediately upon his return to the White House from a visit to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, including Iraq.

Earlier on Tuesday, Democratic congressional leaders sent Mr. Bush legislation setting timetables for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq. The move came on the fourth anniversary of Mr. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech on the war.

The Democratic leaders staged a special ceremony to send the legislation — already approved by both the House and Senate — on its way to the White House.

On Wednesday, Mr. Bush is to meet at the White House with congressional leaders from both parties, including Reid, D-Nev., and Pelosi, D-Calif., to begin discussing follow-up spending legislation.

"This legislation honors the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform," Pelosi said at the ceremony in the Capitol. She said that provisions of the measure respect "the wishes of the American people to end the Iraq war."

Said Reid: "After more than four years of a failed policy, it's time for Iraq to take responsibility for its own future. Today, right now, we renew our call to President Bush: There is still time to listen. There is still time to sign this bill and change course in Iraq."

Some Republicans say they would support tying benchmarks to the more than $5 billion provided to Iraq in foreign aid, but nothing that would tie the hands of military commanders. It's not clear whether the White House is open to this approach, either. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said over the weekend that Mr. Bush would not sign a bill containing any penalties for the Iraqi government.

"House Republicans will oppose any bill that includes provisions that undermine our troops and their mission, whether it's benchmarks for failure, arbitrary readiness standards or a timetable for American surrender," said Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

When he announced a U.S. troop increase in January, Mr. Bush said Iraq's government must crack down equally on Shias and Sunnis, equitably distribute oil wealth, refine its constitution and expand democratic participation. But he attached no consequences if these benchmarks were not met.

On Tuesday, the president did not explicitly mention the war funding legislation. But he made clear indirectly how he feels about its requirement that troops begin to be withdrawn by Oct. 1, and defending his policy of not only keeping troops in Iraq, but increasing their numbers.

Mr. Bush said that pulling the American presence from Baghdad before Iraqis are capable of defending themselves would have disastrous results — giving al Qaeda terrorists a safe haven from which to operate and an inspiration for new recruits and new attacks.

"Withdrawal would have increased the probability that coalition troops would be forced to return to Iraq one day and confront an enemy that is even more dangerous," he said in remarks to representatives from countries participating in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. "Failure in Iraq should be unacceptable to the civilized world."

Mr. Bush's appearance came exactly four years after his speech on an aircraft carrier decorated with a huge "Mission Accomplished" banner. In that address, a frequent target of Democrats seeking to ridicule the president, he declared that the Iraq front in the global fight against terrorism had been successfully completed.

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended," the president said from the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, just weeks after the war began. "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."

Four years later, the White House is still defending and explaining the appearance, reports CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer.

Deputy press secretary Dana Perino noted Tuesday that the banner referred to the mission of the carrier's crew following a 10-month deployment. The White House long ago confirmed it had the sign made. It said the ship's crew requested the banner for the presidential appearance.

More than 3,175 Americans have died in Iraq since the president said major fighting was over. The White House repeated Tuesday that the administration did not anticipate the level of sectarian violence. Perino said the president has no lingering regrets about what she contends was "a widely misconstrued" speech.

The anniversary prompted a protest in Tampa, not far from where Mr. Bush spoke. "He's hearing us. He's just not listening to us," said Chrystal Hutchison, who demonstrated with about two dozen others under a "Quagmire Accomplished" banner. "He's taking a hard-nosed stand here and doing what he wants regardless."

Perino accused Democrats of using U.S. troops as pawns in political games by waiting to send the funding bill to the president on the anniversary.

"It's a trumped-up political stunt that is the height of cynicism," she said.