Bush, Democrats begin search for Iraq compromise

WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - The White House and Democrats today began searching for a compromise on funding the Iraq war after President George W Bush refused to accept a troop pullout timetable and rejected demands for a shift in course.

Bush's veto of a 124 billion dollars funding bill today that would have required a troop pullout to start this year prompted angry reactions from Democratic congressional leaders, who vowed to keep fighting for constraints on what they called Bush's open-ended commitment in Iraq.

Democratic and Republican leaders of the US Congress were to meet Bush today afternoon, and the White House was braced for a potentially protracted negotiation. ''It may take some time,'' said spokesman Tony Snow.

Bush said he had vetoed the bill because ''it didn't make any sense to me to impose the will of politicians over the recommendations of our military commanders in the field.'' He said it was time to agree on legislation that would give US troops the money and flexibility to do their job.

''Even if you think it was a mistake to go into Iraq, it would be a far greater mistake to pull out now,'' Bush told the Association of General Contractors of America. ''There is no easy road out. The easy road would be the wrong road.'' The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives planned an attempt to override Bush's veto today, but lawmakers doubted the required two-thirds majority could be mustered.

Anticipating they would not be able to override the veto, congressional leaders are negotiating over new approaches for getting the war funds into the pipeline with conditions that Bush would accept.

Among ideas circulating on Capitol Hill were including ''benchmarks'' for measuring the Iraqi government's progress in stabilizing the country, where violence has been particularly gruesome recently.

It is unclear whether that progress would be tied to aid to Iraq or some sort of language on US troop levels.

''I think at this stage we're going to wait and see what happens with the White House today,'' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said on the Senate floor.

''The ball is in the president's court. He has to come forward with something that is satisfactory to the Democrats and a significant number of Republicans. There has to be some change of direction in that war,'' Reid said.

Snow said Bush was interested in negotiating and did not rule out benchmarks. ''We think it's important to have goals,'' Snow said.

But he would not be drawn out on what language might be acceptable to Bush and reiterated that the president would veto another bill if it included a timetable for withdrawal.

Bush pleaded for Americans to give his troop buildup plan more time to work. He said it was still in its early stages more than two months after Gen. David Petraeus began carrying it out and results would not be known until the end of the summer.

Reuters RS DB2154