2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 18, 2005 NATION/WORLD Top Dem wants troops out of Iraq NEws INrBRIEF ~ . WASHINGTON (AP) - One of SCongress's most hawkish Democrats Scalled yesterday for an immediate U.S. y..s.....{u'... withdrawal from Iraq. sparking bitter and personal salvos from both sides in a , } -A.Kgrowing Capitol Hill uproar over Presi- dent Bush's war policies. "It's time to bring them home," said Rep. John Murtha, a decorated Korean z War and Vietnam combat veteran, chok- ing back tears during remarks to report- ers. "Our military has accomplished its t mission and done its duty." The comments by the Pennsylvania lawmaker, who has spent three decades in the House, hold particular weight because he is close to many military commanders x and has enormous credibility with his col- x leagues on defense issues. He voted for the war in 2002, and remains the top Demo- crat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. "Our troops have become the primary xx target of the insurgency. They are united against U.S. forces and we have become k {Ea catalyst for violence," he said. In a biting response, Republicans crit- icized Murtha's position as one of aban- donment and surrender and accused Democrats of playing politics with the war and recklessly pushing a "cut and run" strategy. "They want us to retreat. They want us to wave the white flag of surrender to the terrorists of the world," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). "It would be an absolute mistake and AP PHOTO a real insult to the lives that have been Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) gestures during a Capitol Hill news conference lost," said Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.). yesterday to discuss the Iraq War. Murtha, an Influential Democrat who Just two days earlier, the GOP-con- voted for the Iraq war, called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. trolled Senate defeated a Democratic push to force Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal. Spotlighting mushrooming questions from both parties about the war, though, the chamber approved a statement that 2006 should be a significant year in which conditions are created for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces. Murtha estimated that all U.S. troops could be pulled out within six months. He introduced a resolution yesterday that would force the president to call back the military, but it was unclear when, or if, either GOP-run chamber of Congress would vote on it. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stopped short of endorsing Murtha's position, even though he's one of her close advisers. Her counterpart in the Senate, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, said, "I favor what the Senate did," referring to the statement the Senate adopted. Yesterday's rhetorical dueling came in a week that had already seen Bush and other top administration officials lash out at war critics, who they say advocate a strategy that will only embolden the insurgency. Some Senate Democrats have already laid out plans for bringing home U.S. troops. Other House Dem- ocrats have called for the military to pull out, but none has Murtha's clout on military issues. Seldom overtly political, Murtha uncharacteristically responded to Vice President Dick Cheney's comments this week that Democrats were spouting "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges" about the Bush administration's use of intelligence before the war. WASHINGTON Republicans defeated on spending bill Republicans suffered a startling setback in the House yesterday, losing a vote on cutting spending for education and health care programs. A broader budget-cutting blueprint targeting the poor, college students and farmers also was in danger. Both bills are part of a campaign by Republican leaders to burnish their party's budget-cutting credentials as they try to reduce a deficit swelled by spending on the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina. In both cases, GOP moderates balked. The 224-209 vote against a $602 billion spending bill for health, education and labor programs disrupted plans by the Republican leaders to finish work on 11 spending bills that would pay for government operations and freeze many agency budgets through next September. Democrats weresunanimous in opposing that one-year appropriations bill. "It betrays our nation's values and its future," said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). "It is neither compassionate, conservative nor wise.f CAIRO Egypt ruling party takes 70 percent Egypt's ruling party won 112 seats in the first stage of the country's parliamen- tary elections, or about 70 percent of those available, according to final results announced yesterday. Announcing the results, Justice Minister Mahmoud Abu el-Leil also confirmed that the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful Islamic fundamen- talist group, more than doubled its presence in parliament, winning 34 seats. The ruling National Democratic Party acquired 112 seats out of the 164 contested seats in the first round, which entailed an initial vote Nov. 9 then a run-off Tuesday. Independents got 13 seats and three opposition parties won five seats - two each to the centrist Wafd and leftist Tagammu parties and one to the centrist Ghad party. The second round is to be held Sunday, followed by a final one Dec. 1, to determine the remainder of the 454-member parliament. Each stage is held in a different area. BUSAN, South Korea Bush, Putin make nice over terrorism Though their political relationship is strained, President Bush and Russian Presi- dent Vladimir Putin are trying to speak with one voice about the war on terrorisfn and the campaign to stop North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The two leaders were meeting today, apparently still at odds over how to address Iran's nuclear programs and with long-running differences over the U.S.-led inva- sion of Iraq and U.S. concern that Russia is retreating from democracy. Far from home, Bush was on the defensive about Democrats' criticism that he had misled the nation about the need to go to war in Iraq. He said at a news conference yesterday that it was "patriotic as heck to disagree with the president." But he added, "What bothers me is when people are irresponsibly using their positions and playing politics. That's exactly what is taking place in America." Today's meeting was the fifth between Bush and Putin this year, following talks in Moscow; Washington; Bratislava, Slovakia, and Gleneagles, Scotland. Despite their disputes, they're on a first-name basis and emphasize their friendship. WASHINGTON Democrats lose on oil company tax bill Senate Republicans beat back Democratic attempts yesterday to use a $60 billion tax bill to pinch oil and energy companies that have been reporting record profits while consumers pay high gasoline prices. The bill, which would prevent a number of individual and business tax breaks from expiring, already levies almost $5 billion in taxes on major oil companies. The energy amendments faced opposition from the Republican majority and stood little chance of success, but they reflected attentiveness on Capitol Hill to high gasoline prices and fears of skyrocketing home heating costs this winter. B a0 Lgislators squabble over Patriot Act renewal WASHINGTON (AP) - A tentative agreement to renew the Patriot Act this week teetered late Wednes- day without explicit support of the lead Senate negotiator, as Democrats complained that the draft wouldn't sufficiently curb the FBI's power to probe the most private aspects of people's lives. Hours after House and Senate negotiators said they had reached a tentative pre-dawn agreement, Demo- crats and civil libertarians complained that it didn't address their chief concern: the curbing of FBI power to gather certain information by requiring the inves- tigators to prove the subject's.records are connected to a foreign agent or government. "It gives a nod toward checks and balances without fix- ing the most fundamental flaws in the Patriot Act," said Lisa Graves of the Americans Civil Liberties Union. At least four Democratic senators announced their displeasure with the proposal, joined by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) had hoped to reach an agreement that his counterpart, ranking Democrat Pat Leahy of Ver- mont, could support. But by dinnertime, Specter had scheduled - then canceled - a news conference on the Patriot Act. His office said only that negotiations were continuing. The agreement, which would make most provi- sions of the existing law permanent, was reached just before dawn Wednesday. But by midmorning GOP leaders had already made plans for a House vote yesterday and a Senate vote by the end of the week. That would put the centerpiece of President Bush's war on terror on his desk before Thanksgiv- ing, a month before more than a dozen provisions were set to expire. 0 - Compiled from Daily wire reports CORRECTIONS * A story in the Nov. 3 edition of the Daily (Higher ed funding debat- ed) incorrectly spelled the name of a University regent. She is Katherine White. Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com. atbe £icbiuCS Cd 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com JASON Z. 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