US House votes to bring troops home from Iraq

Friday, July 13, 2007

The United States House of Representatives voted 223–201 on Thursday to require that most US troops leave Iraq by April 1, 2008. The legislation requires that the withdrawal commence within the next 120 days.

A limited number of troops will be allowed to stay to train Iraqis, protect US interests and fight alleged terrorists.

The vote follows a report released by US President George W. Bush which found that there had been only limited progress following the deployment of troop reinforcements earlier this year. It is thought that the Senate will now be under pressure to approve a similar timeline.

President Bush has threatened to veto the legislation as he has done twice previously. He said there would be no shift on his Iraq policy before September.

Sources