US war money in doubt as Democrats vow to keep strings attached

The Defense Department may have to forgo a war spending bill this year because Democrats say they will not pay for Iraq without tying the money to U.S. troop withdrawals.

The leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, both Democrats, said Thursday that if Congress is unable to pass legislation setting a timetable on the war, which is likely, they will probably drop the issue until next year. Until then, Democrats say the Pentagon can eat into its $471 billion (euro321.74 billion) annual budget.

The war bill is part of a deepening conflict between the Democratic-controlled Congress and President George W. Bush on the war and this year's spending priorities. Democrats say defense dollars should be used to bring troops home and repair the readiness of the armed forces, and more money should be directed to domestic projects.

The Republican-led White House says Bush would veto the war spending bill because it sets an artificial timetable on combat.

The prospect of facing lean months ahead already has the Pentagon scrambling. Army Secretary Pete Geren told a Senate panel on Thursday that the service is considering how it would cover costs until Congress passes a war spending bill.

After mid-February, the Army would have to furlough civilian workers and freeze contracts, he said.

"A large organization such as ours cannot turn on a dime. ... It would have a dramatic effect," Geren said. The burden would "fall heavily on home-based troops and their families," he later added.

The House on Wednesday passed, 218-203, a $50 billion (euro34.1 billion) bill that would pay for the wars but require that troops start to leave Iraq in 30 days. It sets a goal of ending combat by December 2008, as well as interrogations standards that would make waterboarding illegal.

Bush is already on track to meet the requirement that troops start coming home, as he plans in coming weeks to slowly reverse this year's troop buildup of 30,000. But the White House says the measure would be detrimental to the war effort.

The bill "would only partially fund our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but fully embolden our enemies," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement on Wednesday.

The measure goes to the Senate, where Democrats lack the 60 votes are needed to overcome procedural hurdles.

A Senate vote is expected before Sunday.