US deadlock over Iraq war funds

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/6671503.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Talks between top Democrats and White House officials have failed to break a deadlock over an Iraq war funding bill despite some concessions being made.

The Democrats said they had offered to allow President George W Bush to waive the timetable for troop withdrawal they want to write into the legislation.

But the White House rejected the offer as setting "surrender dates" even if the timetable was not enforced.

Mr Bush has already vetoed one bill which set a date for troop withdrawal.

Both sides said they were disappointed by Friday's negotiations - and each blamed the other for the lack of progress in what has become a protracted and bitter battle.

Congress, which is controlled by the Democrats, has said it wants to send a new bill to President Bush before the Memorial Day recess in late May.

'Wrong signal'

Before the talks, there had been hopes that the sides could reach a compromise on setting benchmarks for progress in Iraq.

Both sides said they were disappointed by lack of progress

"To say I was disappointed in the meeting is an understatement," said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"I really did expect that the president would accept some accountability for what we're trying to accomplish."

The Democrats said they had also offered to strip out billions of dollars of domestic spending, criticised by the president, from the bill.

White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten said the problem was the Democrats' refusal to drop their insistence on setting a timetable for withdrawal.

"Whether waivable or not, timelines send exactly the wrong signal to our adversaries. to our allies, and most importantly to the troops in the field," he said.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill which would fund operations in Iraq to the end of July, but made further funding dependent on events in Iraq meeting certain, as yet undefined, benchmarks of progress.

The Senate is expected to vote on a proposed war funding bill next week, clearing the way for discussions to begin with the House on joint legislation to send to the White House.

The administration has warned that money for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will soon start to run out unless the $100bn funding it needs is agreed.