| Perhaps, it's all WaPo spin in this article. |
In a news conference at the Pentagon after receiving a briefing from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Bush leveled sharp criticism at congressional Democrats, accusing them of seeking political gain from the war-funding bill, and he warned them not to "hamstring" U.S. commanders in the field or include "pork" projects in the supplemental appropriations bill. Yet he also expressed a desire to find "common ground" with Congress.
House Democrats began working on a new formula that provides interim funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for two months. The proposal would give Bush half the money he has requested for the war effort, with a vote in July on whether to approve the rest based on the Iraqi government's progress in meeting political and economic benchmarks. A vote on the proposal is expected in the House tonight.
Bush today warned lawmakers not to send him such bill, urging them to provide full funding without timetables or restrictions. "Time's running out, because the longer we wait the more strain we're going to put on the military," he said in the news conference at the Pentagon. "My message to the members of Congress is, whatever your beliefs may be, let's make sure our troops get funded," he said. "And let's make sure politicians don't tell our commanders how to conduct operations. Let's don't hamstring our people in the field. That's my message."
He said that in September, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and the joint chiefs plan to "make recommendations about troop levels based upon the conditions on the ground," taking into account the views of the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus. That approach, Bush said, "stands in stark contrast to members of Congress who say, we're going to determine troop levels based upon politics or the latest opinion poll or how we can get our members elected."
He added, "The idea that the House of Representatives put forward is one that we will fund our troops by piecemeal." He said Gates feels strongly that this is "a bad idea" because it would delay certain procurements and military contracts. "There's a lot of uncertainty in funding when it comes to two-month cycles," Bush said. "So we reject that idea. It won't work."
He also accused lawmakers of being "ready to fully fund unrelated domestic spending items and only one-half of the money requested for our troops." "They got it wrong," he said. "They ought to provide 100 percent of the money for people who wear the uniform, and leave these special pork projects out of the bill. So I'll veto the bill if it's this haphazard, piecemeal funding."
However, Bush continued, "One message I have heard from people from both parties is that the idea of benchmarks makes sense. And I agree. It makes sense to have benchmarks as a part of our discussion on how to go forward. And so I've empowered Josh Bolten to find common ground on benchmarks. And he will continue to have dialogue with both Republicans and Democrats." He referred to Joshua B. Bolten, the White House chief of staff and one of his designated negotiators on a new war funding bill.