Bush on Iraq Bill: Managerially Unacceptable

The White House has threatened to veto legislation passed by the House yesterday that would provide incremental funding for operations in Iraq, holding back most money until the Bush administration completed a status report in July on the war. At that point, Congress could pass fast-track legislation setting a date for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. In addition to being ideologically opposed to such deadlines, President Bush objected to the House measure (H.R. 2206) on management grounds. From the statement of administration policy on the bill:

Incremental funding will cause breaks in production schedules of critical equipment, delay the delivery of equipment to deploying forces, halt the hiring of needed civilian personnel, lead to far more expensive and burdensome short term procurements, and undermine the [Defense] Department’s ability to relieve stress on the force. It will also disrupt daily operations at installations, driving up costs and impacting support activities for military personnel and their families, affecting quality of life, morale and retention.

Whatever your position on the war, it's hard to argue that point.