Defunding the War in Iraq

Looks like the Dems have decided that inaction is the way to defund the war. They work on a bill that will require troop withdrawals irrespective of the level of success in Iraq and call the president stubborn when he declines to approve. Looks like they've found the way to push the blame on Bush while ensuring failure. Both things that will give them the biggest political clout.

With Congress back at work after a two-week recess, Mr. Bush and the Democrats spent the day lobbing verbal grenades at one another. Mr. Bush appeared in the Rose Garden to chide lawmakers for failing to finish their work, and his aides said he would do so again at a news conference on Tuesday — a rare departure for a White House that typically keeps its news conferences a secret until an hour before they occur.

“They have just two weeks to go before they leave town again,” Mr. Bush said. “That’s not really a lot of time to squeeze in nearly a year’s worth of unfinished business.”

At the Capitol, Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, responded by calling Mr. Bush’s arguments “pretty weak,” and accusing the president of being intransigent. “If not for the stubborn refusal of the president and his Republican enablers to work with us,” Mr. Reid said, “we would accomplish a lot more.”

"A lot more" of failing to finish what we've started no doubt is his intent. Sadly this could end with a complete failure if the funding dries up and/or the requirement for a time table is forced. I'm uncertain why the White House isn't pushing harder on this issue. They've done it before with some success, I'd think that it wouldn't be much difference this time with more Dems seeing a more probable scenario for success with the present tactics.