The veto everyone knew was coming

By Michael J.W. Stickings

So Bush vetoed the troop withdrawal bill. Surprise, surprise, surprise. We all knew it was coming.

Bush claimed yesterday that the bill would "mandate a rigid and artificial deadline," -- and, I admit, I tend to think that a firm timetable for withdrawal may not be in the Democrats' best interests -- but Pelosi is right that he "wants a blank check".

And that is simply unacceptable.

So, now, compromise -- and this could (and should) include benchmarks for the Iraqis.

For more, see The Moderate Voice and (via GTL) The Left Coaster. (And see the BBC here and here.)