Senate Democrats pass war bill

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats ignored a veto threat and pushed through a bill Thursday requiring President Bush to start withdrawing troops from “the civil war in Iraq,” dealing a rare, sharp rebuke to a wartime commander in chief.\nIn a mostly party line 51-47 vote, the Senate signed off on a bill providing $123 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also orders Bush to begin withdrawing troops within 120 days of passage while setting a nonbinding goal of ending combat operations by March 31, 2008.\nThe vote came shortly after Bush invited all House Republicans to the White House to appear with him in a sort of pep rally to bolster his position in the continuing war policy fight.\n“We stand united in saying loud and clear that when we’ve got a troop in harm’s way, we expect that troop to be fully funded,” Bush said, surrounded by Republicans on the North Portico, “and we got commanders making tough decisions on the ground, we expect there to be no strings on our commanders.”\n“We expect the Congress to be wise about how they spend the people’s money,” he said.\nThe Senate vote marked its boldest challenge yet to the administration’s handling of a war, now in its fifth year, that has cost the lives of more than 3,200 American troops and more than $350 billion.\n“We have fulfilled our constitutional responsibilities,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters shortly after the vote.\nIf Bush “doesn’t sign the bill, it’s his responsibility,” Reid added.\nIn a show of support for the president, most Republicans opposed the measure, unwilling to back a troop withdrawal schedule despite the conflict’s widespread unpopularity.\n“Surely this will embolden the enemy and it will not help our troops in any way,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.