President Bush yesterday got tough with congressional Democrats, vowing to veto any bill that sets a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq – and promising not to compromise on the issue.
It’s about time.
Now the Democrats need to stop playing political games and – in their own Senate leader’s words – start “dealing with the real issues.”
Both houses of Congress have passed pullout-timetable bills, but only by the narrowest of margins. No such measure would survive a veto.
Nor should it.
As Bush said yesterday, if such a bill were enacted, “our enemies in Iraq would simply have to mark their calendars.”
Moreover, “If we cannot muster the resolve to defeat this evil in Iraq, America will have lost its moral purpose in the world.”
So what lies ahead?
New funding for the troops must be approved by April 15. If the tap runs dry, as the Democrats seem to hope, the Pentagon would have to slow the training of replacement units scheduled to deploy.
This would mean extended tours for units now in Iraq – with all that implies for continuity, equity and morale.
Is this what the Democrats mean when they claim to “support the troops, but not the war?”
Said Bush: “If Congress fails to pass a bill to fund our troops on the front line, the American people will know who to hold responsible.”
Non-negotiable vetoes need to follow.