U.S.-Iraq Pact May Spur Democrats

[babylonsister]

U.S.-Iraq Pact May Spur Democrats
By Josh Rogin, CQ Staff


Democratic efforts to weigh in on Iraq policy could be gaining steam after the White House announced it has agreed with Iraq to a “general time horizon” for further troop drawdowns.

After years of unsuccessful attempts to legislate drawdowns and a change of mission for U.S. forces, top Democrats heralded a July 18 announcement that President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have agreed to include an unspecified schedule for U.S. troop withdrawals as part of a pending bilateral security agreement.

The announcement is likely to spur current efforts to codify Iraq withdrawal timelines and congressional oversight of any U.S-Iraq security agreement as part of the defense authorization and appropriations bills.

“Improving conditions should allow for the agreements now under negotiation to include a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals — such as the resumption of Iraqi security control in their cities and provinces and the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq,” the White House said in a statement.

But the statement made clear the administration would continue to reject what it called “an arbitrary date for withdrawal.”

Carl Levin , D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, quickly criticized Bush for rejecting his repeated efforts to attach similar language to various pieces of legislation over the course of the war.

Bush’s announcement “contrasts with the administration’s previous absolute rejection of congressional efforts to adopt even a non-binding goal for transition of most of our troops from Iraq,” Levin said.

more...

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002921460

[rocktivity]

1. Rachel Maddow was yucking it up yesterday

about Georgies's shiny new "buzzword."

:rofl:
rocknation