US President George W Bush is planning to meet with Democrats in order to find a way to fund the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This news comes to us a day after Bush vetoed a bill that would have linked war funding to the eventual withdrawal of US troops from said lands. After vetoing the bill, Bush stated that setting a withdrawal deadline would be like "setting a date for failure." The bill was largely supported by the Democratic majority US Congress, but Bush's veto of it came as no surprise. Bush also stated that signing the bill would "....send a signal that America will not keep its commitments." Democratic speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Bush, saying that he was far too stubborn to sign any bill that isn't essentially a blank cheque. The Senate voted on the bill Bush vetoed last week, and voted largely along party lines (51 to 46). The veto also marked the four year anniversary of a Bush speech; one in which he stated that the mission in Iraq was accomplished.
This is a situation that seems to be occuring relatively often at this point in time. It is difficult to appease any side in this situation as the two party's ideologies are so different. From the democratic point of view, you can't sign a bill that will support the war even further and pump even more funds into the operations, but you also don't want to undercut the thousands of troops overseas risking their lives every day. From a Republican point of view, Bush has quite clearly stated that he does not want to pull out of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until the job is done, but at some point you need to cut your losses. I do not believe this is what needs to be done right now, as it seems suicide bombings and mass killings are becoming commonplace in Iraq. Unfortunately the Americans find themselves in a very tricky situation, hopefully some good will come out of Bush's meetings with Congress and the Democrats in a few days.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6616361.stm
This is a situation that seems to be occuring relatively often at this point in time. It is difficult to appease any side in this situation as the two party's ideologies are so different. From the democratic point of view, you can't sign a bill that will support the war even further and pump even more funds into the operations, but you also don't want to undercut the thousands of troops overseas risking their lives every day. From a Republican point of view, Bush has quite clearly stated that he does not want to pull out of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until the job is done, but at some point you need to cut your losses. I do not believe this is what needs to be done right now, as it seems suicide bombings and mass killings are becoming commonplace in Iraq. Unfortunately the Americans find themselves in a very tricky situation, hopefully some good will come out of Bush's meetings with Congress and the Democrats in a few days.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6616361.stm
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