Bush Says He’s Open to Iraq Bill With Benchmarks

Finally this President shows some sanity. Maybe his mother told him to play nice:

President Bush offered his first public concession to try to resolve the impasse over Iraq war spending today, as he confronted new pressure from his own party over the conflict and House approval of a plan that would provide money for combat operations only through midsummer.

Apparently some non-sycophants in his party are finally getting through to this pig headed mini-despot:

Though Republicans voted solidly with the president, many made clear the administration had until September — the deadline for a progress report from Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander in Iraq — to prove its war strategy is working. While it was Republican moderates who took their complaints directly to the president this week, others in the party expressed similar misgivings today.

“There is a significant undercurrent that is looking for a reasonable way forward in Iraq,” said Representative Jeff Fortenberry, a conservative Republican of Nebraska, adding that the war is a leading concern for his constituents. “People are very conflicted in their hearts.”

Several Republicans are considering bipartisan legislation aimed at changing the war’s course. Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine and Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee have introduced separate proposals aimed at bringing a gradual end to the war.