Senate blocks Iraq war funding bill (Roundup)

Middle East News

Nov 16, 2007, 20:02 GMT

Washington - Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a 50- billion-dollar Iraq war spending bill because Democrats attached a timetable for US troop withdrawals. The 53-45 vote in favour of the bill fell seven votes short of the 60 needed to move forward based on Senate rules. The House of Representatives, which requires only a simple majority, approved the measure on Wednesday. Senate Democrats, who narrowly hold a majority in the upper chamber, voted 53-45 earlier Friday to defeat a 70-billion-dollar Republican spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without troop withdrawal deadlines. President George W Bush strongly opposes congressional deadlines for removing US troops from Iraq and has previously vetoed legislation containing pullout timeframes. The Democratic bill would have US combat troops out of Iraq by December 2008. 'Our bill sets a reasonable goal for the end of combat operations,' Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said. 'And it finally ensures that the President will be accountable to the Congress and to the people.' The White House warned that by holding up Bush's funding requests, Democrats were placing US soldiers at risk of not having what they needed in Iraq and noted that Congress begins a two week vacation Friday. 'Once again they tried to pass a bill that provides incremental funding, tries to micromanage the war from the halls of Congress,' spokesman Tony Fratto said. 'It includes an arbitrary withdrawal date, an aim that has absolutely no relevance to the significant successes we're seeing on the ground in Iraq.' © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

View blog reactions

If you liked this story please support M&C and Buzz the site on Yahoo.

Latest Headlines in Middle East

Talkback

There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)

Latest from M&C Blogs

Obama: the gloves come off in Denver - Global Eye on August 29, 2008 6:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Biden: good choice or admission of Obama's weakness? - Global Eye on August 25, 2008 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Are political campaigns wasting their money on undecided voters? - Global Eye on August 22, 2008 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

Upside-down House - The World in Pictures on August 4, 2008 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Church of our Lady in Dresden, Germany - The World in Pictures on August 4, 2008 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Giant Orange - The World in Pictures on July 15, 2008 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Middle East

Senate blocks Iraq war funding bill (Roundup)

Middle East News

Latest Headlines in Middle East

Talkback

Latest from M&C Blogs

Similar articles

In Monsters and Critics

Corporate

The Fine Print