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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Senate backs Iraq withdrawal date | Senate backs Iraq withdrawal date |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The US Senate has passed a bill calling for all US combat troops to leave Iraq within a year, defying a veto threat. | The US Senate has passed a bill calling for all US combat troops to leave Iraq within a year, defying a veto threat. |
| The Senate vote came only an hour after George W Bush made his third vow in less than a week to veto such a law. | The Senate vote came only an hour after George W Bush made his third vow in less than a week to veto such a law. |
| "I'll veto a bill that restricts our commanders on the ground... a bill that doesn't fund our troops," he said. | "I'll veto a bill that restricts our commanders on the ground... a bill that doesn't fund our troops," he said. |
| The vote of 51 to 47 links funding for the war to a goal of getting US combat troops out of Iraq by March 2008. The House has passed a similar bill. | The vote of 51 to 47 links funding for the war to a goal of getting US combat troops out of Iraq by March 2008. The House has passed a similar bill. |
| The Senate bill approves $122bn (£62bn) in funds - mostly for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - but also orders the president to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within 120 days of passage of the bill. | The Senate bill approves $122bn (£62bn) in funds - mostly for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - but also orders the president to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within 120 days of passage of the bill. |
| It sets a goal of pulling all combat troops out of Iraq by the end of March of next year, but does not explicitly demand their removal. | It sets a goal of pulling all combat troops out of Iraq by the end of March of next year, but does not explicitly demand their removal. |
| The House and Senate must now reconcile their two versions of the bill and send the result to Mr Bush. | |
| If he refuses to sign it, the bill will not become law. | If he refuses to sign it, the bill will not become law. |
| The votes in both the House and Senate were close enough to suggest Congress will not be able to override his threatened veto. | The votes in both the House and Senate were close enough to suggest Congress will not be able to override his threatened veto. |
| Challenge to Bush | |
| But the fact both houses were able to approve deadlines for bringing the troops home constitutes the strongest challenge Congress has mounted to Mr Bush's war policy. | |
| President Bush has made clear he will not let the bill become law | |
| President Bush's Republican party lost control of both houses of Congress to the Democrats last year. | |
| The Senate vote came a day after the leaders of both houses wrote to the president placing the blame on him for the expected impasse over the bill. | |
| "We stand ready to work with you, but your threats to veto a bill that has not even been presented to you indicate that you may not be ready to work with us," House leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid wrote. | |
| The Senate had earlier attempted to pass a nonbinding resolution calling for the troops to come home, but Republicans prevented the measure from coming to a vote. | |
| They did not block Thursday's funding bill, Republican leaders said, because they did not want to deprive the troops of essential supplies. | |
| The bill passed mostly along party lines. |