Democrats fail on all anti-war fronts

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Despite having a U.S. congressional majority, Democrats failed to have anti-war provisions included in the 2008 federal budget.

Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that only funded troops in Afghanistan and sent it to the U.S. Senate, where on Tuesday night, Democrats made several attempts to add in anti-war provisions along with funding for Iraq as well.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., supported an amendment that would have required troop withdrawal from Iraq and a cutoff of combat funds within nine months but that amendment failed on a 24-71 vote, The Washington Post reported.

Another non-binding Democratic amendment that would have redeployed forces to counter-terrorism missions and Iraq border security also failed.

Along with a looming Friday deadline for a national budget was the threat of a veto by U.S. President George Bush, who said before Thanksgiving he wouldn't accept anything that had withdrawal conditions attached.

The House was to take up the revised $555 billion Senate bill Wednesday and it was widely expected to pass despite Democratic dissent over the Iraq funding, the Post said.