By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush pledged on Friday to veto -- and go on vetoing -- legislation that includes a timetable for pulling U.S. troops from Iraq but Democrats urged him to sign it.
Defying the veto threat, the Democratic-controlled Congress this week approved a $124 billion war spending measure that would require U.S. troops to begin leaving Iraq by October 1 at the latest.
"I'm sorry it's come to this," Bush told reporters. "I'm sorry that ... the issue evolved the way it has. But nevertheless, it is what it is, and it will be vetoed."
Senate Democrats, at a New York retreat, urged Bush to back off his threatened veto and consider the measure carefully.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he thinks, even in the event of a veto, the president is open to a negotiated compromise.
"If you look at the president's statements the last few days, I think they've been very promising," Reid said, pointing to remarks by Bush indicating he would discuss the issue further with lawmakers.
"At least as far as I'm concerned, the president has changed his tune," Reid added. "This is just a lot of swagger, and he should stop swaggering and sign the bill."
A retired general who was the Army's senior intelligence officer, Lt. Gen. William Odom, also called on Bush to sign the bill, saying it would be a "rare act of courage" by the president.
In the Democrats' weekly radio address, Odom said Bush had been "absent without leave," ignoring accumulating evidence that his Iraq strategy had failed, but that the legislation offered him the opportunity to change course.
With no compromise in sight, Bush, at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Camp David, said the Democrats' bill would tie the hands of U.S. generals and that he would veto a second bill if it had a pullout timetable.
"So if they want to try again that which I have said was unacceptable, then of course I'll veto it. But I hope it doesn't come to that. I believe we can work a way forward. And I think we can come to our senses and make sure that we get the money to the troops in a timely fashion," he said.
Democrats promised to send the bill to the White House on Tuesday, the fourth anniversary of Bush declaring aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln: "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended." The aircraft carrier was decorated with a large "Mission Accomplished" banner.
Iraq has since been riven by violence and the death toll of U.S. troops has passed 3,300. The increasingly unpopular war was a major factor in Republicans' loss of control of Congress to the Democrats in last November's mid-term elections.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said Bush invited Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress to meet him at the White House next Wednesday to talk about "making sure we get the funding to our troops."
Congress is expected to send the bill to Bush by Tuesday.
Republicans quickly accepted, and Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said they would attend. Reid also said he had met with the Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and planned to do so again on Monday.
The eight Democratic contenders to succeed Bush in the November 2008 election agreed at their first debate on Thursday on the need to quickly pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.
(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and by Ellen Wulfhorst in New York)
Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush pledged on Friday to veto -- and go on vetoing -- legislation that includes a timetable for pulling U.S. troops from Iraq but Democrats urged him to sign it.
Defying the veto threat, the Democratic-controlled Congress this week approved a $124 billion war spending measure that would require U.S. troops to begin leaving Iraq by October 1 at the latest.
"I'm sorry it's come to this," Bush told reporters. "I'm sorry that ... the issue evolved the way it has. But nevertheless, it is what it is, and it will be vetoed."
Senate Democrats, at a New York retreat, urged Bush to back off his threatened veto and consider the measure carefully.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he thinks, even in the event of a veto, the president is open to a negotiated compromise.
"If you look at the president's statements the last few days, I think they've been very promising," Reid said, pointing to remarks by Bush indicating he would discuss the issue further with lawmakers.
"At least as far as I'm concerned, the president has changed his tune," Reid added. "This is just a lot of swagger, and he should stop swaggering and sign the bill."
A retired general who was the Army's senior intelligence officer, Lt. Gen. William Odom, also called on Bush to sign the bill, saying it would be a "rare act of courage" by the president.
In the Democrats' weekly radio address, Odom said Bush had been "absent without leave," ignoring accumulating evidence that his Iraq strategy had failed, but that the legislation offered him the opportunity to change course.
With no compromise in sight, Bush, at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Camp David, said the Democrats' bill would tie the hands of U.S. generals and that he would veto a second bill if it had a pullout timetable.
"So if they want to try again that which I have said was unacceptable, then of course I'll veto it. But I hope it doesn't come to that. I believe we can work a way forward. And I think we can come to our senses and make sure that we get the money to the troops in a timely fashion," he said.
Democrats promised to send the bill to the White House on Tuesday, the fourth anniversary of Bush declaring aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln: "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended." The aircraft carrier was decorated with a large "Mission Accomplished" banner.
Iraq has since been riven by violence and the death toll of U.S. troops has passed 3,300. The increasingly unpopular war was a major factor in Republicans' loss of control of Congress to the Democrats in last November's mid-term elections.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said Bush invited Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress to meet him at the White House next Wednesday to talk about "making sure we get the funding to our troops."
Congress is expected to send the bill to Bush by Tuesday.
Republicans quickly accepted, and Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said they would attend. Reid also said he had met with the Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and planned to do so again on Monday.
The eight Democratic contenders to succeed Bush in the November 2008 election agreed at their first debate on Thursday on the need to quickly pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.
(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and by Ellen Wulfhorst in New York)
Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.
