Obama wants '08 deadline for U.S. pullout
His bill would force retreat, but chances of that are slim
WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said Tuesday U.S. combat forces should be out of Iraq by spring 2008 to end ''a foreign policy disaster.''
The senator introduced a bill to force the redeployment under law, but that's unlikely while Bush is president. Still, Obama said he's taking Bush up on his challenge to critics to offer alternatives.
''It is important at this point that Congress offer specific constructive approaches to what's proven to be a foreign policy disaster,'' Obama said, ''because we've got too much at stake to simply stand on the sidelines and criticize.''
Obama's bill would cap troop levels in Iraq at the early January level of around 130,000 service members. It would require that troops begin coming home May 1 with the goal of removing all combat brigades by March 31, 2008.
Some legal scholars question whether Congress has the authority to bring troops home because the president has control of military forces.
Obama rejected the notion that the congressional authorization for war in 2002 gives Bush "carte blanche to proceed in any way."
AP