WASHINGTON, May 1 — President Bush vetoed the Iraq-war spending bill this evening, calling it a blueprint for failure and defeat and intensifying a showdown with the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Yuri Gripas/Reuters
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi signed the Iraq Supplemental Conference Report and sent it to President Bush today.
Mr. Bush said the bill was unacceptable because it set “a rigid and artificial deadline” for American forces to withdraw from Iraq, in that it demands that they begin leaving by Oct. 1.
“It makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing,” Mr. Bush said at the White House, where he vetoed the bill after the signatures of Democratic legislative leaders were barely dry.
The president said the bill would demoralize the Iraqis and send them and the world a terrible message: “America will not keep its commitments.”
Mr. Bush invited lawmakers to negotiate with him, and he is scheduled to meet with Democratic leaders on Wednesday. Negotiations are essential, since the Democrats do not have strong enough majorities to muster the two-thirds needed in each chamber to override a veto.
Democrats reacted with disappointment. “The president may be content with keeping our troops mired in the middle of an open-ended civil war, but we are not, and neither are most Americans,” said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the bill that Mr. Bush rejected was “worthy of the sacrifices” of America’s military people. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said the veto sends “the wrong message to the Iraqis” by telling them that the United States commitment is open-ended.
Democrats sent the bill to the White House this afternoon after a ceremony at the Capitol. Throughout the day, Mr. Bush and Democrats painted sharply contrasting pictures of the war, with the president portraying it as an historic campaign to make the world safer, while Democrats painted it as an ill-conceived and badly executed adventure.
Democrats spent hours trying to take advantage of the fourth anniversary of President Bush’s “mission accomplished” speech, a tactic the White House dismissed as shabby theatrics and a distortion of what the president really said in 2003.
The White House had said that Mr. Bush would wield his veto pen shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern time, following his return from Tampa, Fla., where he took part in a conference of the Central Command, which oversees United States military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Everyone in this room knows the consequences of failure in Iraq,” Mr. Bush said at the conference, “and then we should also appreciate the consequences of success, because we’ve seen them before.” Look to Germany and Japan, once America’s mortal enemies but now its allies, he said.
“These are difficult times,” Mr. Bush said. “These are tough times. These are the times that test the resolve of free people.”
Democrats have been saying for months that the “free people” voted last November for a change of course in Iraq, and they pressed the attack today. “Today is the fourth anniversary of what I consider to be one of the most shameful episodes in American history,” said Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a Democratic candidate for president. “Never before in our history has a president said ‘mission accomplished’ when the mission had barely begun.”
Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said: “In the four years since the president claimed ‘mission accomplished’ in Iraq, America has lost thousands of young lives and spent hundreds of billions of dollars.”
The White House quickly pointed out that Mr. Bush never spoke the words “mission accomplished” in his speech. Rather, they were displayed on a banner aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, where Mr. Bush landed shortly after the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled by the American-led invasion.
Dana Perino, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bush, told reporters on Air Force One today that the speech Mr. Bush delivered as he stood on the carrier’s flight deck on May 1, 2003, “has been widely misconstrued.”
“I encourage people to go back and read it,” Ms. Perino said on the way to Florida. “The president did say we had a long and difficult road ahead of us. We’re moving from a dictatorship to a democracy.”
As for the $124 billion supplementary spending bill, which Mr. Bush dislikes because it also includes a timetable for American forces to begin withdrawing from Iraq, this afternoon’s announcement of the impending veto ended whatever suspense remained about the timing. This morning, Ms. Perino said coyly that it was “within the realm of possibility” that the president would wield his veto shortly after arriving back at the White House in the late afternoon or early evening.
Democratic leaders held a ceremony at the Capitol this afternoon to formally sign the bill before it was dispatched to the White House by special courier. “This legislation respects the wishes of the American people to end the Iraq war,” Ms. Pelosi said.
Senator Reid said of the president, “The ball is in his court; it just left ours.”
The veto was the second of Mr. Bush’s presidency, and the first since Democrats took over control of both houses of Congress in January. Last year, he vetoed a stem-cell research bill.
Over the past several days, Mr. Bush and Democratic legislators have sounded conciliatory and hinted that they are ready for a serious exchange of views.
The Democratic leaders are scheduled to meet with Mr. Bush at the White House on Wednesday. Asked if she thought the burden was now on Mr. Bush to offer a compromise, Ms. Pelosi said, “That would be the normal course of events, that the president would counter with something.”
For today, Democrats made the most of the anniversary of the president’s speech on the aircraft carrier, in which he proclaimed the end of “major combat” in Iraq. A blown-up photograph of Mr. Bush on the carrier deck was displayed in the House chamber as Democratic House members lined up to speak. Similar denunciations by Democrats went on in the Senate.
The White House did not suffer in silence. Taking advantage of the anniversary of the speech in which Mr. Bush did not say “mission accomplished” is “a trumped-up political stunt that is the height of cynicism,” Ms. Perino said today aboard Air Force One.
Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting for this article from Washington.
Yuri Gripas/Reuters
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi signed the Iraq Supplemental Conference Report and sent it to President Bush today.
Mr. Bush said the bill was unacceptable because it set “a rigid and artificial deadline” for American forces to withdraw from Iraq, in that it demands that they begin leaving by Oct. 1.
“It makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing,” Mr. Bush said at the White House, where he vetoed the bill after the signatures of Democratic legislative leaders were barely dry.
The president said the bill would demoralize the Iraqis and send them and the world a terrible message: “America will not keep its commitments.”
Mr. Bush invited lawmakers to negotiate with him, and he is scheduled to meet with Democratic leaders on Wednesday. Negotiations are essential, since the Democrats do not have strong enough majorities to muster the two-thirds needed in each chamber to override a veto.
Democrats reacted with disappointment. “The president may be content with keeping our troops mired in the middle of an open-ended civil war, but we are not, and neither are most Americans,” said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the bill that Mr. Bush rejected was “worthy of the sacrifices” of America’s military people. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said the veto sends “the wrong message to the Iraqis” by telling them that the United States commitment is open-ended.
Democrats sent the bill to the White House this afternoon after a ceremony at the Capitol. Throughout the day, Mr. Bush and Democrats painted sharply contrasting pictures of the war, with the president portraying it as an historic campaign to make the world safer, while Democrats painted it as an ill-conceived and badly executed adventure.
Democrats spent hours trying to take advantage of the fourth anniversary of President Bush’s “mission accomplished” speech, a tactic the White House dismissed as shabby theatrics and a distortion of what the president really said in 2003.
The White House had said that Mr. Bush would wield his veto pen shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern time, following his return from Tampa, Fla., where he took part in a conference of the Central Command, which oversees United States military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Everyone in this room knows the consequences of failure in Iraq,” Mr. Bush said at the conference, “and then we should also appreciate the consequences of success, because we’ve seen them before.” Look to Germany and Japan, once America’s mortal enemies but now its allies, he said.
“These are difficult times,” Mr. Bush said. “These are tough times. These are the times that test the resolve of free people.”
Democrats have been saying for months that the “free people” voted last November for a change of course in Iraq, and they pressed the attack today. “Today is the fourth anniversary of what I consider to be one of the most shameful episodes in American history,” said Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a Democratic candidate for president. “Never before in our history has a president said ‘mission accomplished’ when the mission had barely begun.”
Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said: “In the four years since the president claimed ‘mission accomplished’ in Iraq, America has lost thousands of young lives and spent hundreds of billions of dollars.”
The White House quickly pointed out that Mr. Bush never spoke the words “mission accomplished” in his speech. Rather, they were displayed on a banner aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, where Mr. Bush landed shortly after the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled by the American-led invasion.
Dana Perino, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bush, told reporters on Air Force One today that the speech Mr. Bush delivered as he stood on the carrier’s flight deck on May 1, 2003, “has been widely misconstrued.”
“I encourage people to go back and read it,” Ms. Perino said on the way to Florida. “The president did say we had a long and difficult road ahead of us. We’re moving from a dictatorship to a democracy.”
As for the $124 billion supplementary spending bill, which Mr. Bush dislikes because it also includes a timetable for American forces to begin withdrawing from Iraq, this afternoon’s announcement of the impending veto ended whatever suspense remained about the timing. This morning, Ms. Perino said coyly that it was “within the realm of possibility” that the president would wield his veto shortly after arriving back at the White House in the late afternoon or early evening.
Democratic leaders held a ceremony at the Capitol this afternoon to formally sign the bill before it was dispatched to the White House by special courier. “This legislation respects the wishes of the American people to end the Iraq war,” Ms. Pelosi said.
Senator Reid said of the president, “The ball is in his court; it just left ours.”
The veto was the second of Mr. Bush’s presidency, and the first since Democrats took over control of both houses of Congress in January. Last year, he vetoed a stem-cell research bill.
Over the past several days, Mr. Bush and Democratic legislators have sounded conciliatory and hinted that they are ready for a serious exchange of views.
The Democratic leaders are scheduled to meet with Mr. Bush at the White House on Wednesday. Asked if she thought the burden was now on Mr. Bush to offer a compromise, Ms. Pelosi said, “That would be the normal course of events, that the president would counter with something.”
For today, Democrats made the most of the anniversary of the president’s speech on the aircraft carrier, in which he proclaimed the end of “major combat” in Iraq. A blown-up photograph of Mr. Bush on the carrier deck was displayed in the House chamber as Democratic House members lined up to speak. Similar denunciations by Democrats went on in the Senate.
The White House did not suffer in silence. Taking advantage of the anniversary of the speech in which Mr. Bush did not say “mission accomplished” is “a trumped-up political stunt that is the height of cynicism,” Ms. Perino said today aboard Air Force One.
Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting for this article from Washington.
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