WASHINGTON, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. Senate refused on Friday to back a U.S. House of Representatives bill linking $50 billion in war funds to the withdrawal of the country's troops from Iraq by December 2008.
The bill, approved on November 15, allocates around a quarter of the $196 billion President Bush had requested for combat operations in the 2008 budget year, which began on October 1.
The bill also states that funds are to be used to redeploy troops, rather than "extend or prolong the war," demands the withdrawals start within 30 days, and bans torture techniques used in interrogation, including the practice of waterboarding (simulated drowning).
The Bush administration had warned that should the bill be adopted, President George Bush would veto it.
