Congress Votes to Pull US Troops Out of Iraq: Bush Unmoved

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Thursday’s vote in the U.S House of Representatives to begin withdrawing American troops from Iraq marks the third attempt this year by Congress to pass similar legislation.

The bill, passed by a 223-201 margin, would require that U.S. soldiers begin coming home within four months from now, with near total withdrawal of troops by April of 2008.

The vote ran along expected party lines, with only four Republicans voting to approve it, and 10 Democrats opposing it.

The previous two attempts to pass legislation of this nature both failed; one because President Bush vetoed it, and the other because the Senate refused to implement a timetable for Iraq troop withdrawal.

Despite a threatened presidential veto for the recent House bill as well, leading Democratic members of Congress say that the time has come to send the message to the President and to the American public that U.S. soldiers must be pulled from Iraq.

Democratic members of the Senate agree. "It is time for the president to listen to the American people and do what is necessary to protect this nation," said Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev), the Senate Majority Leader. "This means admitting his Iraq policy has failed, working with the Democrats and Republicans in Congress on crafting a new way forward in Iraq and refocusing our collective efforts on defeating Al-Qaeda."

However, many Republican members of Congress disagreed. "I’ve never thought that setting an arbitrary deadline for complete withdrawal makes any sense," said Representative Michael Castle (R-Del). "I just think that would leave the possibility of Iraq being in total disarray forever."

Despite the recent vote, President Bush remains resolute on his stay-the-course plan for Iraq. "I know some in Washington would like us to start leaving Iraq now," he said during a press conference Thursday. "To begin withdrawing before our commanders tell us we are ready would be dangerous for Iraq."

Some political experts say that the president is delaying any possible changes to his current Iraq policy until September, when a complete report is expected to be presented by General David. Petraeus and United States Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker.

However, even typically staunch Bush-supporting Republicans are becoming battle-fatigued with the U.S. policy in Iraq. A new GOP-sponsored bill, named the Warner-Lugar bill for the two Republican senators who drafted it, call for President Bush to make U.S goals in Iraq much more specific, no later than mid-October. Senators John Warner (R-Va), and Richard Lugar (R-Ind), say that changes must be made.

The Warner-Lugar proposal reads, in part, "Given continuing high levels of violence in Iraq and few manifestations of political compromise among Iraq's factions, the optimal outcome in Iraq of a unified, pluralist, democratic government that is able to police itself, protect its borders, and achieve economic development is not likely to be achieved in the near future."

Democratic Senators are even more critical of the repetitive pleas from President Bush to continue the current plan. "The president stubbornly refuses to develop a redeployment plan or devise a redeployment schedule," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif). "[He is] preferring to hope, despite the abundance of evidence to the contrary, that his failed policies will somehow make tomorrow better than today."