President George W. Bush would veto any bill drafted by Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives that would fund the Iraq war only July, his spokesman said Wednesday, even as the Defense Department held out hope that troops could begin withdrawing if the Iraqi government makes progress by September, AP reported. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate committee that if violence in Iraq declines enough to allow the government to move forward, including steps toward political reconciliation, the U.S. could begin pulling troops out. The Pentagon, said Gates, is «looking for the direction of events _ we don't have to have it all locked in place and everything complete ... If (we) see some very positive progress and it looks like things are heading in the right direction, then that's the point at which I think we can begin to consider reducing some of those forces.» He added that «getting the level of violence in Iraq to point where the political process can go forward and seeing some progress in reconciliation sets the stage for us to begin withdrawing our units ... and allowing those security responsibilities to be assumed by the Iraqis.»
