UPDATE 2-US House votes Iraq troop withdrawal Bush would veto

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By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq, defying President George W. Bush by tying the measure to $50 billion in new war funds.

By a vote of 218-203, the House sent the controversial plan to the Senate, where it faced an uphill fight as Republicans have vowed to block it.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino called on Congress to send Bush a "clean" emergency funding bill, without withdrawal dates.

"If legislation comes to the president in this form, he will certainly veto it," Perino said in a statement after the House vote.

The House vote came on the same day that an explosion in Baghdad brought more U.S. casualties, adding to what already was the Iraq war's bloodiest year for American forces.

The House bill, backed by four Republicans, is similar to a plan Bush vetoed in May that would have begun the immediate withdrawal of some U.S. combat troops from Iraq, who have been fighting there since March 2003.

By Dec. 15, 2008, all American combat soldiers would be out. In a disappointment to liberal Democrats, that date would be a nonbinding goal.