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Politics

Bush and Congress at odds on Iraq plan

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published March 20, 2007

WASHINGTON - As the Iraq war lumbers into its fifth year, President Bush pleaded Monday for patience to let his revised battle plan work, and Congress' new Democratic leaders retorted that none remains.

"The new strategy will need more time to take effect," Bush said in remarks televised from the White House to mark the war that began late March 19, 2003, Eastern time. He challenged Congress to send him a war funding bill "without strings and without delay."

He got a swift response from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"The American people have lost confidence in President Bush's plan for a war without end in Iraq," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "That failed approach has been rejected by the voters in our nation and it will be rejected by the Congress."

The House will vote this week on legislation that would effectively require the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by next year, while providing funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the year.

Four years in, the war has claimed the lives of more than 3,200 members of the U.S. military. Predictions about the cost and length of the war have been far surpassed. The public overwhelmingly opposes the war, and Bush's approval rating stands near his all-time low.

Antiwar protesters lay down in front of the New York Stock Exchange entrance Monday; several were arrested. Trading did not appear to be disrupted.

Trying to halt spiraling sectarian bloodshed, Bush has ordered nearly 30,000 more combat and support troops to Iraq, mostly to stabilize Baghdad. Bush said "success will take months, not days or weeks."

"There will be good days, and there will be bad days ahead as the security plan unfolds."

Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this report.

Fast Facts:

Also in Iraq

Execution: Saddam Hussein's former vice president was hanged before dawn today for the killings of 148 Shiites, an anonymous official with the prime minister's office said. Taha Yassin Ramadan was the fourth man executed for the deaths in Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt against Hussein, who was executed on Dec. 30.

Violence: Bombs tore through a Shiite mosque during prayers in Baghdad and struck several targets in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk on Monday, killing at least 26 people. Additionally, 29 bullet-riddled bodies turned up in the capital and at least 25 decomposed bodies were found east of Ramadi.

[Last modified March 20, 2007, 02:15:37]