Editorial: Not bowing to pressure

Friday, April 27, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.

D emocrats in both houses of Congress were undeterred in sending President Bush a strong message this week that they would support U.S. troops with needed funding but would not support his failing war policy.

Refusing to buckle to threats of a presidential veto, the House and Senate approved a $124 billion war spending bill that includes an Oct. 1 deadline for phased withdrawal of combat troops.

The Senate's 51-46 vote on Thursday came a day after the House passed the legislation by a 218-208 vote, still well short of the two-thirds needed to override a veto. Nonetheless, it was a show of leadership and resolve unthinkable a year ago when Republicans controlled Congress.

The legislation sets strict requirements for making sure troops get rest, adequate training and equipment, and it establishes benchmarks that the Iraqi government must meet that include programs to disarm militias and reduce sectarian violence.

Congress plans to deliver the bill to Bush on Monday, a day before the fourth anniversary of the president's famous - some would say infamous - speech declaring an end to major combat operations in Iraq while standing on an aircraft carrier under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished."

In response to reports early Thursday that Democrats were considering sending Bush the legislation on Tuesday to coincide with the date of his "Mission Accomplished" speech, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said to do so would smack of "a ridiculous PR stunt."

Of course, wearing a green flight suit while in the co-pilot's seat of a jet landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and then making a victory speech with a "Mission Accomplished" banner in the background, wouldn't qualify as a ridiculous PR stunt. No, this White House wouldn't engage in such tawdry spectacles, using our men and women in uniform as background props.

Following Thursday's vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the legislation is "in keeping with what the American people want." The problem is that Bush isn't interested in what Americans want. If he were, he would be seeking common ground rather than stubbornly clinging to his flawed war policies.