'Definitive deadline for US troops withdrawal not possible'

WASHINGTON: Democratic front runner for next year's Presidential elections Senator Hillary Clinton has said while a "definitive deadline" for pullout of troops from Iraq was not possible, she supported a Bill that set a final timeline for their withdrawal.

As a part of the war supplemental spending the House of Representatives, by a margin of 216 to 212 votes last week passed legislation that will have all American troops out of Iraq before September 2008.

The Senate is expected to take up the Bill but floor action is slightly more complicated as several Republican Senators need to join hands with Democrats to clear hurdles.

The White House has said unless President George W Bush gets a "clean" bill devoid of time frames and spendings, the Bill will be vetoed.

Bush has even made the point that given the fashion in which the legislation cleared the House, there are not enough votes to overturn the veto.

"I'm hoping that we can get it passed in the Senate. The problem is it just takes more votes to get that done. We have to get more Republicans in the Senate. And that's been a challenge for us, but we're working very hard to persuade our Republican colleagues," Clinton said on Monday.

"The President said he would veto the House bill. I am hoping that if enough Republicans speak up and we get enough Republican votes we'll be able to get something passed. And then perhaps he will work with us to start to extricate ourselves from Iraq" she said adding a "hard, definitive deadline" for the withdrawal of troops is not possible.

"If I were President, I would certainly work with the Congress to begin to withdraw troops. In fact, you don't need the Congress to tell you to do that. The President can do that on his own, which is what I wish he were doing. And it is a realistic timetable to begin to move troops out. But you have to, as President, be judging what happens as you go. And I have said that it is likely we'd have to leave a smaller contingent of troops to deal with Al Qaida because they are in Iraq and we can't afford to let them have a staging ground against us," Clinton said.

"...if the Iraqis began to defend themselves, we would want to provide logistical and training support. That's what I've been saying for a couple of years. That's what most of the Democrats have been saying. So far it's fallen on deaf ears of the President."

Clinton warned Democrats not to get distracted and keep the focus on the White House and for the manner in which the President dragged America into the war.

"We're all in this together now. The important point is that the Democrats are united. And we have all put forth plans -- we've all voted for plans to begin the phased redeployment of our troops. I think we've got to keep the focus on the President. You know, the President rushed us to war.

"He didn't let the inspectors finish their work. He has mismanaged this. And this is his responsibility. And it's very regrettable that the President refuses to listen to the people of our country, to see what's happening on the ground and begin to take steps to undo this policy" she said.