White House to veto withdrawal of troop from Iraq

Washington, Mar 28: The Democratic-controlled US Senate has supported by a narrow margin the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq by March 2008, provoking the White House to reiterate its resolve to kill the measure through an exercise of presidential veto.

The Senate, like the House of Representatives earlier, yesterday approved a spending bill that links funding for the war in Iraq to a timetable for the pull out of the troops.

Hardly had the Senate defeated by 50-48 vote a Republican amendment, seeking to remove the troop withdrawal date from the spending bill, when the White House came with a promised veto threat.

Neither the House nor the Senate is expected to have the votes needed to override the president's veto, according to congressional sources.

Senators are expected to vote on a final version of the 122 billion dollar spending bill later this week. The bill would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure also calls for a gradual redeployment of US forces from Iraq, beginning in four months.

Commenting on these developments, White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said the Democratic-led move would ''embolden the enemies''.

She wanted Congress to reject the legislation and send President Bush a responsible bill.

UNI