Under pressure to support the troops but end the war, House Democrats said Thursday they would send President Bush $50 billion for combat operations on the condition that he begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.
Congressional Democrats offered $50 billion in interim spending for combat operations coupled to a goal of pulling out most troops from Iraq within a year.
Former president George H.W. Bush forcefully defended his son's handling of the Iraq war Thursday, saying critics of the current president have forgotten the "extraordinary brutality" of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives will try to end U.S. combat in Iraq with legislation that would tie new war funds to troop withdrawals, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.
US lawmakers will soon vote on a proposal to provide only limited funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with the condition President George W. Bush begin withdrawing troops from the country, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives said.
Monthly production of new armored vehicles designed to protect U.S. troops from roadside bombs should reach over 1,000 by year's end, and more than 1,500 should have arrived in Iraq, Pentagon officials told lawmakers on Thursday.
As of Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007, at least 3,860 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,144 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will vote as early as Friday on legislation that would spend $50 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but require that President Bush start bringing troops home.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives will try again to end U.S. combat in Iraq when it debates legislation this week tying new war funds to troop withdrawals, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.
Police on Thursday accused the Mahdi Army militia of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr of carrying out a four-year killing spree in Iraq's central shrine city of Karbala which left hundreds dead.