WASHINGTON — President Bush vetoed a Democratic war spending bill Tuesday that would have compelled him to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, a move that came exactly four years after he triumphantly landed on an aircraft carrier to announce the end of "major combat operations."
"Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure, and that would be irresponsible," Bush said.
On a day rich with symbolism, the president fulfilled his veto threat in the White House's main hall, hours after the House and Senate majority leaders sent Bush the legislation after a rare signing ceremony of their own.
Democrats condemned Bush's action and accused him of misrepresenting their legislation.
"If the president thinks by vetoing this bill he'll stop us from working to change the direction of the war in Iraq, he is mistaken," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
The veto -- the second of Bush's presidency and the first since Democrats assumed power in January -- closed one chapter in the showdown between Congress and the president over the future of the war. And it opened another as Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill scrambled to chart their next moves.
Democratic leaders are weighing a new spending bill that would remove the timelines Bush has complained about but retain a series of benchmarks designed to pressure the Iraqi government to take steps to reduce sectarian strife.
The $124-billion measure to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would have required Bush to begin withdrawing troops no later than Oct. 1, with a goal of completing the pullout by March.
Republicans -- uneasy with their president but opposed to a withdrawal plan -- appear increasingly willing to back some form of benchmarks, although party leaders would not discuss specifics. GOP lawmakers in the past have balked at any benchmarks that would include deadlines or consequences for missing them.
The fourth anniversary of one of the most theatrical moments of the Bush presidency was dominated by a battle for control of imagery between the president and his congressional adversaries.
Bush left Washington in the morning on Air Force One to spend the day at the military's Central Command in Tampa, Fla., the nerve center of U.S. operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East.
