Bush Vetoes War Spending Bill
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush vetoed legislation to pull American troops out of Iraq Tuesday night in a historic showdown with Congress over whether the unpopular and costly war should end or escalate.
In only the second veto of his presidency, Mr. Bush rejected legislation that would require the first Americancombat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by Oct. 1 with a goal of a complete pullout six months later.
He vetoed the bill immediately upon his return to the White House from a visit to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., the headquarters of Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, including Iraq.
Democrats made a last-minute plea for Mr. Bush to sign the bill, knowing their request would be ignored. “The president has put our troops in the middle of a civil war,” said Senator Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the Senate Majority Leader. “Reality on the ground proves what we all know: A change of course is needed.”
Lacking the votes to override the president, Democratic leaders quietly considered what might be included or kept out of their next version of the $124 billion spending bill.
It was a day of high political drama, falling on the fourth anniversary of Mr. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech and his declaration that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. Democrats held an unusual signing ceremony of their own before sending the bill to the White House.
“This legislation respects the wishes of the American people to end the Iraq war,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
Mr. Bush signed the veto with a pen given to him by Robert Derga, the father of Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. Dustin Derga, who was killed in Iraq on May 8, 2005. The elder Mr. Derga spoke with Mr. Bush two weeks ago at a meeting the president had with military families at the White House.
Mr. Derga asked Mr. Bush to promise to use the pen in his veto. On Tuesday, Mr. Derga contacted the White House to remind Mr. Bush to use the pen, and so he did.
Minutes after Mr. Bush vetoed the bill, an anti-war demonstrator stood outside the White House with a bullhorn: “How many more must die? How many more must die?”
