Bush to veto new Iraq Bill

Washington: President George W. Bush would veto any Bill drafted by Democratic leaders in the US House of Representatives that would fund the Iraq war only through July, his spokesman said yesterday.

And Defence Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate committee that such short-term funding would be very disruptive and "have a huge impact" on contracts to repair and replace equipment. The Defence Department, he said, just does not "have the agility to manage a two month appropriation".

Gates also told the Senate Defence Appropriations panel that if the military begins to see progress in Iraq later this fall, including political reconciliation within the Iraqi government, the US could begin withdrawing troops.

The Pentagon, he said, is "looking for the direction of events - we don't have to have it all locked in place and everything complete ... If [we] see some very positive progress and it looks like things are heading in the right direction, then that's the point at which I think we can begin to consider reducing some of those forces."

Assessment

He added that "getting the level of violence in Iraq to point where the political process can go forward and seeing some progress in reconciliation sets the stage for us to begin withdrawing our units ... and allowing those security responsibilities to be assumed by the Iraqis".

Gates has said commanders in Iraq will provide as assessment of the conditions in Iraq in September. And he said yesterday that the Iraqis are assuming more security responsibilities day by day, but the US cannot abandon the country prematurely. Doing so, he said, would allow Al Qaida terrorists to use Iraq's western Anbar province as a base to plan operations against the United States.

The Democrats' proposal would pay for the war through July, then give Congress the option of cutting off money after that if conditions do not improve. Bush requested more than $90 billion (Dh331 billion) to fund the war through September.

"There are restrictions on funding and there are also some of the spending items that were mentioned in the first veto message that are still in the Bill," White House press secretary Tony Snow said on Air Force One travelling with Bush. Asked directly if Bush would veto the House Bill in its current form, Snow said, "Yes."