Congressional Democrats made the right decision this week when they dropped their demand for a timeline to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.
With the White House and Congress at a stalemate over continuing funding for the war, it was an important step.
But now it’s up to President Bush to compromise and accept a series of benchmarks that measure progress in Iraq. Democrats and some Republicans will want to couple the benchmarks with consequences if Iraq fails to meet the goals.
The days of a blank check and a compliant Congress are over. To support the troops, Bush needs to be willing to work with the other party.
Democrats gave up on their timetable for troop withdrawal Wednesday after the House failed to override Bush’s veto of a $124 billion measure that required troops to begin leaving Iraq as early as July.
A majority of Americans disapprove of Bush’s handling of the war, and a recent poll even showed that a majority of Americans no longer believe a victory in Iraq is possible and support establishing a deadline to begin withdrawal.
More importantly, voters last November gave Democrats control of Congress, in part to have a voice on Iraq.
“The bill that we sent him was a bill that was representative of the wishes of the American people, and we’re going to keep that in mind as we go through these negotiations,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told The New York Times. “It’s not going to be easy, but it’s important.”
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., one of the congressional leaders to meet with Bush this week, said the president “is open to a discussion on benchmarks.”
Of course, it does help that a growing number of Republican lawmakers also want some type of language in the spending bill that would hold the administration and the Iraqi government more accountable.
“The general sense is that the benchmarks are critical,” Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, a moderate Maine Republican, told The Washington Post.
The questions now will revolve around the substance of the benchmarks.
Reid says he has a new plan to increase Iraqi accountability, while transitioning U.S. troops out of the country.
We think the president and Congress need to find enough common ground that operations in Iraq can continue to be funded while also giving Iraqis a chance to establish a secure country.
U.S. policy in Iraq needs to come from compromise between Bush and Congress. Earlier, Bush established his own benchmarks for Iraq. If Democrats are willing to accept some of those benchmarks, he must be willing to accept some of theirs.
Our troops are depending upon it.
