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Four Years After 'Mission Accomplished'
"Democrats plan a rare Capitol Hill 'enrollment' ceremony, featuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, before sending the measure to the White House. Bush left the White House for a visit to the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, where he'll meet with military officers and reiterate his view that hasty withdrawal means defeat in Iraq.
"'It's all about symbolism and theatrics at this point,' said Allan Lichtman, a political science professor at American University in Washington.
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"Exactly when and where Bush will carry out his promised veto was a closely guarded secret. The president was expected to move, however, before an afternoon meeting tomorrow with leaders of both houses -- likely with a high-profile flourish."
Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jeff Zeleny write in the New York Times: "Mr. Bush first exercised his veto last year, when the Republican-controlled Congress sent him a bill to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research. On that occasion, the president spoke at the White House surrounded by so-called 'snowflake babies,' those born from frozen embryos and then adopted."
What About Benchmarks?
Stolberg and Zeleny also write that "Mr. Bush has asked Congressional leaders to meet at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the legislation. Democrats have already been considering possible alternatives.
"One leading option, put forth by Representative John P. Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania, is to pass a measure that includes benchmarks for the Iraqis to advance on establishing a stable government and reconciling ethnic differences.
"That proposal would not include timetables for troop withdrawal -- a move that would anger some in the party's liberal wing who believe voters gave them a mandate last election to force Mr. Bush to end the war."
David Espo writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush and congressional Democrats don't agree about much when it comes to the Iraq war, but one of the areas where they disagree the least is the need to measure the Baghdad government's progress.
"That makes the issue ripe for negotiation in an evolving veto struggle over the war, even though the administration and its critics are fiercely at odds when it comes to how -- and whether -- to enforce these so-called benchmarks for self-defense and democracy in Iraq's post-Saddam Hussein era."
Jonathan Weisman writes in The Washington Post: "Brushing aside White House opposition, Republican leaders in Congress said yesterday that negotiations on a second war spending bill should begin with benchmarks of success for the Iraqi government, and possible consequences if those benchmarks are not met. . . .
"House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) suggested last week that although Republicans could not accept linking benchmarks to troop withdrawals, they could tie them to $5.7 billion in nonmilitary assistance for the Iraqi government. . . .
"Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) has suggested that benchmarks be tied to U.S. troop positions within Iraq. If the benchmarks are not met, troops would remain in the country but would be removed from combat zones."
