I'll veto bill that sets troop withdrawal deadline: Bush

U.S. President George W.

Bush said Tuesday he is prepared to veto a war spending bill proposed by Congress because it includes a timetable to pull American troops out of Iraq.
Bush, who is opposed to any fixed timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.

troops, said he is disappointed the Democrats are mixing politics with spending measures needed to fund American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"They chose to make a political statement," he said in Washington.
"That's their right, but it is wrong for our troops and it's wrong for our country.

To accept the bill proposed by the Democratic leadership would be to accept a policy that directly contradicts the judgment of our military commanders."
Bush said if the Democrats insist on pushing ahead with their timetable, he will stop the bill with his presidential veto and work to create a "clean bill" that meets the needs of the U.S.

military.
The president has the power to veto legislation approved by Congress, but Congress can override that veto with a two-thirds majority.
"I'm willing to meet with leaders in Congress as many times as it takes to resolve our differences.

Yet, if the Democratic leaders insist on using the bill to make a political statement, they will leave me with only one option: I will veto it," he said.
"And then I'll work with Congress to pass a clean bill that funds our troops without handcuffing our commanders, spending billions of dollars unrelated to the war and forcing our nation to withdraw on the enemy's terms."
Members of the Senate and House appropriations committees agreed on a $124 billion US bill that would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also would include a plan to pull troops out of Iraq starting Oct.

1.
According to the bill, the pullout would be completed six months later. All combat troops would be withdrawn by April 1, 2008.

The bill includes spending to improve the health care for returning soldiers and veterans, to help with Hurricane Katrina recovery for the Gulf Coast, to fill in gaps in homeland security and to provide emergency drought relief for farmers.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the Democrats do not expect Bush to back down but they are hoping he will not veto the bill.
If he does, he said the Democrats will decide what to do next and will likely lobby Republicans to vote with them to try to get the needed majority to overturn the veto.

"We will send this bill down to him. He will do with it what he will do," Hoyer said. "My intuition tells me there are an awful lot of members of the president's party who have great concerns about simply staying the course.

"
Bush acknowledged the American people are frustrated with the Iraq war and did vote for a change in direction in mid-term elections, but he said funding for the troops should not be held up by politics between his administration and Congress.
"The American people did not vote for failure," he said.
"That is precisely what the Democratic leadership's bill would guarantee.

It's not too late for Congress to do the right thing."

A series sweep against Boston on Tuesday could be in the cards if the Jays' bats can keep producing and Roy Halladay is his usual solid self on the mound.