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November , 2007
Democratic leaders in Congress said Thursday that if lawmakers are unable to pass a war spending bill that sets a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, they'll probably drop it until next year, prompting a threat of military layoffs from the Pentagon.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Pentagon can tap into its $471 billion annual budget instead.
However, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that unless Congress passes funding for the Iraq war within days, he will direct the Army and Marine Corp. to begin developing plans to lay off employees and terminate contracts early next year.
"There is a misperception that this department can continue funding our troops in the field for an indefinite period of time through accounting maneuvers, that we can shuffle money around the department. This is a serious misconception," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon.
He only has the flexibility to transfer about $3.7 billion -- which is just one week's worth of war expenses, he said.
The House passed a $50 billion bill Wednesday that would pay for the wars but require that troops start to leave Iraq in 30 days. It sets a goal of ending combat by December 2008, as well as standards that would make waterboarding illegal.
The White House said that it is already on track to meet the requirement that troops start coming home because the surge is winding down. And President George W. Bush promised to veto the bill if it arrives with a withdrawal provision.
A Senate vote on the bill is expected before Sunday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military continues to stress positive developments.
One commander said Thursday that attacks using improvised explosive devices dropped sharply in the past 11 months.
In March, 3,239 IED incidents were reported, with 1,641 of them exploding and 1,489 identified and cleared, Army Maj. Gen. James E. Simmons said. In October, that number was down almost 50 percent. Of 1,560 IED events, 763 exploded and 767 were cleared.
"IED attacks and corresponding casualties for coalition forces, Iraqi security forces and Iraqi civilians have dropped significantly," Simmons said, crediting the troop surge with helping bring about the turnaround.
Army Brig. Gen. James C. Boozer Sr., deputy commander of Multinational Division North, told reporters and bloggers in a conference call that he is "absolutely amazed" at improvements on his third tour in the country.
"This is a turning point," he said. "I think in the next 12 or 15 months that we’re going to make history. We’re going to allow the nation of Iraq to build itself," Boozer said.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
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