Bush and Congress Easing Tone of Debate on War Bill

It sounds like Bush is looking for a way out of the confrontation with the Democrats over attaching withdrawal dates to the Iraq war funding bill.

While warning Congress not to test his will by sending him another bill that includes a withdrawal date, President Bush said: “I invite the leaders of the House and the Senate, both parties, to come down, you know, soon after my veto so we can discuss a way forward.” He later issued an official invitation for Congressional leaders to meet at the White House on Wednesday.

This seems a wise move on his part. The more he has pushed this confrontation, the more the public have sided with the Dems on this issue.

Harry Reid, who has always sought a negotiated end to this dilemma, reacted favourably:

“We are legislators,” said Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, speaking to reporters in New York where members of his party gathered yesterday for their annual policy retreat. “We understand legislation is the art of compromise, consensus building. We are willing to sit down and talk with the president, but we have certain things we believe to be important to the country. I’m sure he does too.”

Further noises from the White House confirmed this:

“We’re entering a different phase in which I think the statements have been made, the votes have been cast,” said Dan Bartlett, the counselor to Mr. Bush, “and while the president still has the responsibility to veto this bill, today’s statement demonstrates that he’s looking beyond the veto to how we can get the funding to our troops.”

The Republicans are proposing accepting a bill which includes benchmarks for the Iraqi administration as long as those benchmarks are "advisory and nonbinding", which almost defeats the purpose of adding benchmarks in the first place. What's the point of making a threat if you also guarantee not to carry it out?

Republicans say that tying benchmarks to consequences is “a little more divisive”.

Mr. Reid offered little hint yesterday of Democrats’ post-veto strategy. But he said they had an obligation to the American people, the troops and their families, “recognizing we are the difference between changing course and not changing course.”

There will obviously have to be some give and take next week. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

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Tags: Bush, Harry Reid, troop funding, Iraq war funding, troop withdrawal, Iraq war