President George Bush vetoed a congressional bill linking $124.2 billion additional military funding to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by a deadline of April 1, 2008.
"The consequences of the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, considering the prevailing situation there, are unpredictable and so no one should think that the Democrats are so obsessed with peace that they are unaware of this," Mikhail Margelov, head of the Russian Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
He said U.S. Democrats won midterm elections atop a wave of criticism of President Bush's record in Iraq.
"By vetoing the bill, the president also vetoed the financial aspect of the issue, since the Democrats linked the pullout with [additional] military funding," he said, adding the U.S. president has ended up in an unenviable situation.
He said the longer the U.S. troops remain in Iraq, the more actively the Democrats will be taking advantage of the issue in their election campaigning.
Speaking at the White House during a special televised broadcast Bush called the congressional bill unacceptable, adding that it was only the second time in six and a half years that he had to use the presidential right to veto.
"Setting a deadline for the withdrawal [of troops] would be setting a date for failure," he said, adding that it would demoralize Iraqis and give a signal to the Middle East that America will not keep its commitments.
The presidential veto means that the bill, which went through Congress 51 against 46 votes April 25, will now have to go back to Congress. Bush invited congressional leaders to the White House Wednesday to discuss details for a new bill appealing for legislators to decide on additional troop funding "as soon as possible."
Over $100 billion of the total $124.2 billion will be allocated to current military and auxiliary operations, with $3 billion being spent on new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAP) to defend U.S. troops from roadside mines used by militants in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon also plans to allocate $25.5 billion on military hardware: nine UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, four CH-47 heavy-lift helicopters, one CV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft, three F/A-18 fighter aircraft and one EA-18G electronic spy craft.
