Bush defies Congress calls to pull out of Iraq

President George Bush threatened to veto legislation setting a date for a troop withdrawal from Iraq, despite growing bipartisan calls in Congress for an end to US participation in the war and sharp criticism of the Iraqi government.

As the Senate opened a new debate on the conflict yesterday, one of the president’s staunchest supporters said the administration had pursued the wrong policy for years after toppling Saddam Hussein.

“The strategy we had before was not the right strategy,” said Republican senator Christopher Bond. “We should have had a counter-insurgency strategy.”

Asked later who bore responsibility for the error, Bond said: “Ultimately, obviously, the president.”

Democrats said Bush’s newest strategy was hardly a success, either.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid said that since Bush ordered thousands more troops to Iraq last winter, “we’ve lost more than 600 troops, costing the American taxpayers more than $US60bn (€44bn).

“The escalation has done nothing to bring the Iraqi government together. It’s done absolutely nothing to lessen the violence in Iraq.”

Two Democratic senators, Carl Levin and Jack Reed, back legislation to require a troop withdrawal to begin within 120 days, to be completed by the end of April 2008.

A vote is expected next week and Reid said nearly all Democrats supported the proposal.

Republican senator Gordon Smith is a supporter and party colleague Senator Olympia Snowe said she may switch her position and vote in favour.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would call for a vote on a similar measure by the end of the week.

The Senate proposal appears to be short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a threatened Republican filibuster. Bush’s veto threat applied to any legislation that sets an arbitrary date for withdrawal “without regard to conditions on the ground or the recommendations of commanders”.

“Setting a date for withdrawal is equivalent to setting a date for failure,” Bush said in a written statement that employed terms similar to those he used earlier in the year when he vetoed legislation that set a target date for a withdrawal.

In a further sign of eroding Republican support, Senator Elizabeth Dole, called for troops to come home next year.

“Simply put, our troops have been doing a great job, but the Iraqi government has not,” she said.

“Our commitment in Iraq is not indefinite, nor should the Iraqi government perceive it to be. It is my firm hope and belief that we can start bringing our troops home in 2008.”

Also expected to come to a vote in the next two weeks is a plan to place into law recommendations from last winter’s report from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.

The group called for removing all combat brigades not needed for training, force protection and counter-terrorism by March 31 2008. In an ominous sign for the White House, six Republicans have signalled support for the proposal, along with six Democrats.