Rice Says Bush Won’t Accept Benchmarks In Iraq War Funding Bill (UPDATED)

Posted by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief in Politics, War.
Apr 30th, 2007 | 5 responses

Over the past few days there have been some press reports that suggested that in the end the Bush administration and Congress will come up with some kind of compromise on Iraq war funding. These reports suggest a likely compromise would be no withdrawal timetable but some benchmarks that the Iraq government would be required to follow.

But now Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has thrown cold water on that idea, as well:

President Bush will not sign any war spending bill that penalizes Iraq’s government for failing to make progress, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday, a fresh warning to Congress about challenging him.

Bush is expected to veto a bill this week that would order U.S. troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq by Oct. 1. Lacking the votes to override a veto, the Democratic-led Congress is considering a revised plan to pay for the way while requiring Iraq to meet benchmarks for progress.

Congress has not decided whether to punish Iraq for falling short. Rice sent lawmakers a clear message, saying Bush would not agree to a plan that penalizes the Baghdad for insufficient progress.

“To begin now to tie our own hands — and to say ‘We must do this if they don’t do that’ — doesn’t allow us the flexibility and creativity that we need to move this forward,” Rice said.

So unless this is part of a bargaining ploy with Congress, you can toss out the idea that a compromise would entail some kind of benchmarks for Iraq’s government. Apparently a compromise would entail everything George Bush wants and nothing even a Bush-supporting but concerned member of Congress would seek. MORE:

Democratic lawmakers, eager to wind the war down, showed little appetite for establishing goals without consequences. Iraq has struggled to keep its own promises for distributing oil wealth, refining its constitution and expanding democratic participation.

“The benchmarks — the Iraqis agreed to it, the president agreed it,” said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who heads a House subcommittee that controls defense spending. “We’re saying to them, `Well, let’s put some teeth into the benchmarks.’”

So the situation means:

As polls suggest problems for the GOP and a number of news reports say Republicans in Congress are becoming increasingly concerned, more than ever it appears as if the President is engaged in a massive game of “chicken” with the Congress — even with members of his own party who might want to move away from the present incarnation of policy in increments.

Polls show an increasingly isolated White House and Presidency. If Democrats are calling for benchmarks in a funding bill and if some Republicans seek that as well (as some reports have suggested), polls will continue to drop. Polls = Clout in the political world.

Keep an eye on any statements or interviews with people linked to the Bush 41 administration. That’ll give a clue on how much more isolated (if at all) the administration
is. Watch Senator John McCain. He supports the war but, if he starts to loudly distance himself from the administration, it would signify a political benchmark. If Bush 41 members and McCain solidly back the administration than reports about GWB being isolated should be taken with a grain of salt.

The three key scenarios that are likely to play out between now and 2008 are the war stays the same, the war gets worse or the surge succeeds with progress on the war and Iraq stability highly notable. All but the last one spell very bad news for the Republican Party, which has been losing independent voters in droves — the voters that had been in effect dismissed as irrelevant by some prior to the 2006 elections…in which they proved anything but…

If Rice’s comments are not a bargaining tactic, it would be yet another indication that this administration more than any administration in American history seems to view compromise (on a host of issues) and policy by consensus as a kind of vice and in-your-face imposition of its will on the Legislative Branch and other perceived and real foes as the highest form of political virtue.

UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan writes about the GOP dilemma:

The 20 percent or so of Americans who still think we’re winning in Iraq happen to be the Republican base. And so the GOP in Congress has to pick between surviving their own primaries, maintaining civility with their own faithful, and potentially getting wiped out in the next election. The game of chicken is getting very intense. I guess we’ll know how strong the kool-aid is by September.

Sullivan thinks the GOP could be served by a debate on the war and hopes Senator Chuck Hagel steps into the GOP presidential wannabe ring.

5 Responses to “Rice Says Bush Won’t Accept Benchmarks In Iraq War Funding Bill (UPDATED)”

1. superdestroyer says:

   April 30, 2007 at 7:30 am

   The constant use of poll numbers demonstrates the total lack of leadership with the Democrats (with a few exceptions). All Congress has to do is to refuse to fund the 2007 DoD supplement and to zero out funding in the FY 2008 DoD budget. Congress can force a removable of all U.S. forces by September 30, 2007 by just doing nothing.

   However the Democrat’s heding on Iraq of wanting to maintain trainers, an embassay, and support operations is really a huge sign of weakness. Only a few have shown the courage to demand a complete withdrawal no matter the consequences.
2. hanginjohnny says:

   April 30, 2007 at 8:10 am

   so this runs counter to what Bush said about an “open-ended” policy.
   First he talks about benchmarks, then flip-flops.More doublespeak.
   He really has no freakin’ clue. And his cabinet blindly follows along
3. kritter says:

   April 30, 2007 at 8:21 am

   Well he’s also flip-flopped when he talks about listening to his commanders on the ground. Casey, Abizaid and the JCS disapproved of the surge, so he got new commanders. Now he says he listens to the commanders on the ground. If tomorrow, Gen Petraeus told him the surge was a flop would Bush pull the troops out?

   Tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of Mission Accomplished- they’ve had 4 years of flexibility and creativity without producing solid results. And no one disagrees that bogging down most of our forces in the middle of a civil war that they cannot influence has decreased America’s ability to respond to other trouble spots. Al queda is spread out worldwide- they are not just in Iraq. It would be better to leave some forces to protect the Kurds (who do seem to get democracy) and some to keep fighting in Anbar province. But Iraq is not doing their part, the government resents the pressure to meet any of the benchmarks. So, the surge is a waste of resources.
4. DLS says:

   April 30, 2007 at 2:08 pm

   It wouldn’t occur to the many liberals on this “moderate” Web site that Congress is playing chicken with Bush, instead. …

   > And his cabinet blindly follows along

   … or that his Cabinet is often leading Bush instead, when not simply resisting a pushy Congress all on its own.
5. kritter says:

   April 30, 2007 at 2:58 pm

   When Bush brought up the surge, it was a given that the Iraqi government would have to meet certain benchmarks , that our support was no longer going to be open-ended. Congress is trying to make him stick to his word. Now of course he has gone back to “letting the conditions on the ground determine policy”, because the Iraqis have not, so far, met any of them. When he says he wants to allow for flexibility and creativity that means he wants our presence to be open-ended.