WASHINGTON, March 8 (UPI) -- The White House Thursday called the Democrats' Iraq withdrawal plan as precipitous and a non-starter with the U.S. government.
"It is apparent, once you look at the details of this proposal, that the chief aim of the Democratic leaders was to get Democrats happy, rather than the more important goal of providing the funding and flexibility generals need to succeed in their mission in Iraq," U.S. presidential spokesman Tony Snow said.
"It would unnecessarily handcuff our generals on the ground, and it's safe to say it's a non-starter for the president," said White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett. " ... What we're seeing here is an artificial, precipitous withdrawal from Iraq based on, unfortunately, politics in Washington, not on conditions on the ground in Baghdad."
U.S. President George W. Bush would "vehemently oppose and ultimately veto any legislation that looked like what was described today," Bartlett said.
The plan, proposed by the majority Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives would require all U.S. combat troops to be gone from Iraq by October 2008, or by July of this year if the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki failed to meet specific progress benchmarks. It would also forbid President Bush from taking military action against Iran without congressional approval.
The measure would apparently be attached to legislation approving President Bush's nearly $100 billion supplemental funding request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the rest of fiscal 2007.
The White House said it has not yet seen language on the benchmarks proposed. But the Maliki government had earlier said it the benchmarks they had set for themselves included increased security responsibility and a law for oil revenue sharing among all ethnic groups. Bush endorsed those benchmarks.
Bartlett and Snow spoke aboard Air Force One as the president traveled to South America.
