US:The US Senate has approved a Bill that would make funding for the Iraq war conditional on a commitment to withdraw combat troops within a year, triggering a showdown with President George Bush.
The president has promised to veto the measure, which was passed by 51 votes to 46 in the Senate yesterday and by 218 votes to 208 in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "You heard the phrase that some things are dead on arrival. This is dead before arrival."
Democrats plan to send the Bill to the president next week, in time for the fourth anniversary of his declaration on May 1st, 2003, that all major combat operations in Iraq had ended.
Mr Bush delivered those remarks on the deck of a warship, before a giant banner that read "Mission Accomplished".
The Bill would authorise more than $124 billion in new spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also demands that troop withdrawals begin on October 1st this year - or sooner if the Iraqi government does not meet certain political benchmarks.
It sets a non-binding goal of completing the troop pull-out by April 1st next year but would allow forces conducting certain missions, such as attacking terrorist networks or training Iraqi forces, to remain.
Democrats do not have the two-thirds majority in Congress needed to overturn a veto and the party leadership has yet to decide on how to proceed after next week.
Military experts say that current funding is enough to sustain the troops in Iraq until July and Democrats are eager to avoid any step that would materially affect US forces.
Mr Bush sent his top commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, to Congress this week in an effort to persuade legislators that the new military strategy, which involved deploying an extra 20,000 US troops to the region, is working.
Gen Petraeus said yesterday, however, that it would not be possible to assess the strategy properly until September and he acknowledged that it faced difficulties. "The situation in Iraq is, in sum, exceedingly complex and very tough. Success will take continued commitment, perseverance and sacrifice," he said.
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll published yesterday shows that only one American in eight thinks the Iraq war has improved in the three months since Mr Bush called for a troop increase. Fifty-six per cent say they agree more with the Democrats in Congress who want to set a deadline for troop withdrawal, compared with 37 per cent who oppose a deadline and 55 per cent who believe victory in Iraq is not possible.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats owed it to the US public, the military and their families to attempt to force Mr Bush into a change of policy. "The sacrifices borne by our troops and their families demand more than the blank cheques the president is asking for, for a war without end."