Congress sets Iraq deadlines

Congress passed an Iraq war funding bill that sets deadlines for a U.S. troop withdrawal. The bill, passed 51-46 in the U.S. Senate on Thursday and 218-208 in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, would launch a six-month withdrawal in October. President Bush said he will veto the measure. Strong majorities of U.S. Jews back withdrawal, although Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said a premature pullout would make the region more dangerous. The Reform movement’s Religious Action Center had urged lawmakers to back the bill in a letter sent Wednesday. “Our call for withdrawal is rooted in the ongoing and escalating loss of life among U.S. and coalition forces and the Iraqi people, growing instability within Iraqi society, the growing financial burden caused by the cost of the war, and the damage being done to the strategic and security needs of America and its allies,” RAC Director Rabbi David Saperstein wrote in the letter.