• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Bush Aides Reboot Iraq War Negotiations

Posted on: Thursday, 3 May 2007, 18:00 CDT

By ANNE FLAHERTY

WASHINGTON - President Bush's top aides sat down with Democrats on Capitol Hill Thursday to discuss the Iraq war in the first serious overtures by both sides to cooperate.

Ultimately, however, no deal was struck and the White House responded bitterly to a proposal offered by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

The two sides came armed with ideas and notebooks and talked for some 45 minutes. They agreed to meet again early next week and not to divulge details to outsiders in the spirit of cooperation.

"There is nothing off the table - including timetables" to end the war, reported Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "Nothing."

The round of meetings came two days after Bush vetoed $124.2 billion legislation that would have funded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also would have ordered troops to begin coming home from Iraq by Oct. 1.

Democrats said they were acting on a mandate from voters to end the war. But without the necessary two-thirds majority to override Bush's veto, they're having to rethink their approach.

For his part, Bush says it was his right as commander in chief to manage the war without interference from Congress. But with the war in its fifth year and having killed more than 3,350 U.S. troops, the commitment in Iraq has been deeply unpopular. Even GOP loyalists in Congress say that if the security situation in Iraq does not improve by fall, more Republicans will be willing to break ranks and challenge a lame-duck president.

In a closed-door meeting Thursday with fellow Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., echoed Reid's remark that Democrats have not agreed to drop language on troop withdrawals. Pelosi and Reid are trying to reassure liberal members of their caucus that they're not backing down.

Privately, however, several Democrats have signaled they intend to do so to avoid a second veto and plan to focus their attention instead on upcoming spending bills.

One option for Pelosi would be to insist on retaining the troop withdrawal language in a House version of the bill, only to agree to drop it later when it must be negotiated in the Senate.

Numerous other ideas are being floated by lawmakers, all involving some combination of standards the Iraqi government must reach. The key impasse, however, is whether to require redeployments of U.S. troops if the benchmarks are not met.

Clinton and fellow Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia proposed Thursday a measure to repeal the 2002 resolution authorizing force in Iraq. Under the bill, Bush would be required in October to seek Congress' blessing to continue operations in Iraq.

"If the president will not bring himself to accept reality, it is time for Congress to bring reality to him," said Clinton, a presidential contender for 2008.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino immediately shot down Clinton's proposal as a nonstarter, adding that such a bold suggestion was "troubling" in light of ongoing negotiations.

"Here we go again," Perino said in a statement. "The Senate is trying another way to put a surrender date on the calendar. Welcome to politics '08-style."

Several Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and John Sununu of New Hampshire and Reps. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Adam Putnam of Florida, have said they are open to restricting the more than $5 billion in aid for Iraq if the Baghdad government does not meet certain benchmarks.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., is working on a similar proposal that would require the Iraqi government to reach agreements on key political reforms and meet other milestones.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, has suggested that if the Iraqis fail to meet certain goals, military commanders must submit a plan to redeploy some troops and transition the combat mission to Iraqi security forces.

As members considered possible approaches, Reid, D-Nev., met for 45 minutes in his office with White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Later, Bolten and budget director Rob Portman met with Reps. David Obey, D-Wis., and Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., the chairman and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, respectively.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said Bolten had a good meeting with Reid and McConnell that allowed both sides to express their views, but he would not elaborate. He said that it was not constructive to drag out the discussions and that the president hoped a bill could be completed soon.

Likewise, Reid described the meeting as "constructive" and "comfortable." He said he expected Congress to be able to send Bush a new bill before the Memorial Day recess at the end of this month. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Thursday he expected to pass a House version of the bill by mid-May.

Reid told reporters that Bolten offered some ideas, and Reid called Pelosi afterward to discuss the meeting. He declined to offer further specifics.

"I don't think it helps the negotiation process to do it publicly," Reid said.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

More News in this Category