Bush Says He'll Seek Agreement on Iraq Benchmarks (Update2)

By Roger Runningen and Laura Litvan

May 10 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush, facing growing dissent among Republicans as well as Democrats over the war, said he'll negotiate with Congress on setting benchmarks for progress in Iraq as part of legislation to fund troops.

While Bush didn't say whether he would accept penalties for Iraq's government if it doesn't meet goals, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said the president's remarks may provide an opening to get war funding legislation through Congress.

``One message I have heard from people from both parties is that the idea of benchmarks makes sense,'' Bush said during a news conference today at the Pentagon outside Washington. ``I agree, it makes sense to have benchmarks as a part of our discussion on how to go forward.''

The president again said he would veto a measure being voted on in the House today that would give the military $42.7 billion through July, less than half of what Bush requested for the year, with the rest of the money to be approved only if Bush could certify by July 13 that progress is being made.

Democrats, who hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, are threatening to restrict funding for U.S. troops in Iraq, and Republicans are telling the president that his strategy of adding more forces must show results by September.

Negotiations

Bush in the past has pointed to benchmarks that Iraqi leaders have set for themselves and has resisted calls in Congress to set firm conditions for continued U.S. support. The president said Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten is ``empowered'' to negotiate with lawmakers about setting goals.

Spokesman Tony Snow said the idea of setting goals isn't new because the president mentioned benchmarks in his State of the Union address. Still, he wouldn't spell out what measures of progress Bush would accept.

``I'll leave the business of good-faith negotiating to Josh Bolten,'' Snow said at a White House briefing after Bush's visit to the Pentagon.

Among the benchmarks that have been mention by lawmakers and administration officials are changes in Iraqi law to set terms for sharing oil revenue and to allow former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to hold government jobs.

Reid, of Nevada, said at the Capitol that Bush's comment may lead to ``getting a good bill out of conference.'' He said the ``president seems to be more isolated every day'' because of the war.

`Consequences'

In a statement later, Reid said Democrats would press for ``meaningful benchmarks'' for the Iraqi government and ``consequences'' if they aren't met.

Bush was briefed today on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, Peter Pace.

Afterward, he asked the public and lawmakers to give his strategy of sending more troops to Baghdad time to work. Only about half the 21,000 combat troops he ordered to Iraq earlier this year are in place, he said. The force should be up to strength by next month.

Al-Qaeda has responded to the additional U.S. forces ``with their own surge'' of suicide bombings and other attacks, and there will be more violence in the months to come, he said.

``Some in Washington are saying `you need to leave,''' Bush said. ``Let's give this plan a chance to work. Let's stop playing politics.''

Cheney Trip

Bush has dispatched Vice President Dick Cheney to the region and he made an unannounced stop in Baghdad to meet with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other senior Iraqi officials. He said yesterday that he was ``impressed with the commitment'' that the Iraqis are showing to accelerate a political reconciliation in their country.

New pressure is being put on Bush by members of his party. Eleven House Republicans held private discussions May 8 with Bush, Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and political adviser Karl Rove. The message was that time is running out for the president and the war, a participant said.

``Members really told the president in, I think, the most unvarnished way that they possibly could, that things have got to change, that we're going to hang with him until September but we need an honest assessment in September and people's patience is running very, very, very thin,'' U.S. Representative Ray LaHood of Illinois, said today on CNN.

``The theme was the same: the American people are war fatigued,'' he said. ``The American people want to know that there's a way out.''

Many lawmakers of both parties are focusing on a report on war progress that's due in September from Army General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq.

``There's no doubt that September becomes a very important date'' for continued congressional support in Congress, U.S. Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri said on CNN. ``The country's patience is wearing out on this.''

Snow said Bush understands their position. ``As the president pointed out today again, he's impatient, too,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen at the Pentagon at rrunningen@bloomberg.net ; Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 10, 2007 16:19 EDT

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