Bush cautions Congress about Iraq war funds

updated 4:48 p.m. ET March 19, 2007

WASHINGTON - With Democrats pushing for an end to the Iraq war, now entering its fifth year, President Bush pleaded for more patience Monday and called on Congress to send him a war spending bill “without strings, and without delay.”

The war has stretched longer, with higher costs, than the White House ever predicted. On the fourth anniversary of the day Bush directed the invasion to begin, the president made a televised statement from the White House Roosevelt Room to defend continued U.S. involvement.

He said his plan to send 21,500 additional U.S. troops to secure Baghdad and Iraq’s troubled Anbar Province “will need more time to take effect,” especially since fewer than half of the troop reinforcements have yet arrived in the capital. Bush added: “There will be good days and bad days ahead as the security plan unfolds.”

Democrats are bringing up this week in the House a war spending bill that would effectively require the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008, on top of providing funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the year. The White House has been pushing aggressively against this legislation, and Bush did so again on Monday.

“It can be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home,” he said. “That may be satisfying in the short run. But I believe the consequences for America’s security would be devastating.”

President notes positive signs
He said he had received news of positive signs during a morning briefing on the war with his National Security Council, and during a closed-circuit television conference call with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from Baghdad.

Bush ridiculed House Democrats’ legislation to remove troops, a measure he has promised to veto because it contains a timeline. He called it an abdication of U.S. commitments to Iraqis.

“There’s a lot more work to be done and Iraq’s leaders must continue to work to meet the benchmarks they have set forward,” he said. “As Iraqis work to meet their commitments, we have important commitments of our own.”

The House’s war spending bill includes a troop withdrawal deadline of Sept. 1, 2008. The timeline would speed up if the Iraqi government cannot meet its own benchmarks for providing security, allocating oil revenues and other essential steps.

Democrats “have a responsibility to ensure that this bill provides the funds and the flexibility that our troops need to accomplish their mission,” the president said. “They have a responsibility to pass a clean bill that does not use funding for our troops as leverage to get special interest spending for their district. And they have a responsibility to get this bill to my desk without strings and without delay.”

Snow dismisses House war spending bill
Earlier, White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters in his morning briefing that the war spending bill up for consideration by the full House this week would “provide victory for the enemy.”

FREE VIDEO Military stretched too thin? March 19: A Washington Post article claims that senior U.S. officials acknowledge the war has left the military stretched thin. Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org discusses on “Countdown.” Countdown

The legislation, in addition to providing funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the year, would effectively require the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008.

“That is not a fund-the-troops bill but a withdraw-the-troops bill,” Snow said. “We think that is an approach that is conducive to defeat. It is a recipe for failure, not for victory. ... It would provide victory for the enemy and not the much-needed and deserved victory for the people of Iraq. Furthermore, it would forfeit the sacrifice that our troops have made in the field.”

The president also was to meet with his National Security Council on the war and hold a closed-circuit television conference call with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad.

Entering its fifth year, the war in Iraq has claimed the lives of more than 3,200 members of the U.S. military.

Anti-war protesters arrested on Wall St.
The continuing U.S. military presence there led to a weekend of anti-war protests around the country, and protests continuned into the workweek.

In New York City, police arrested 44 anti-war protesters outside the New York Stock Exchange on Monday after they lay down in front of the entrance to mark the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion. There was no apparent impact on trade.

MORE FROM INVASION IRAQ: FOUR YEARS LATER

Invasion Iraq: Four Years Later Section Front

Interactive: Fight for Iraq Engel: ‘I’ve seen so many ugly things’ Fundamental failures led to current crisis Video interactive: Do you remember? Media gallery: Iraq’s smallest casualties Audio slide show: Scars from Iraq Day by day, images of a 4-week invasion Chris Matthews: Iraq war was all predictable Bush cautions Congress about Iraq funds Poll: Iraqis pessimistic on war’s outcome Invasion Iraq: Four Years Later Section Front   Add Invasion Iraq: Four Years Later headlines to your news reader: