Senate's Reid backs plan to end funds for Iraq

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ratcheting up pressure on the White House to end the Iraq war, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid joined one of the chamber's biggest anti-war Democrats on Monday in proposing to terminate funding for the conflict within a year.

The Senate has already defied a veto threat by President George W. Bush and joined the House of Representatives in backing a timetable for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq.

But the new legislation unveiled by Wisconsin liberal Democrat Russ Feingold and co-sponsored by Nevada Democrat Reid would go farther and take the controversial step of ending funding for the war by March 31, 2008 -- with three exceptions.

The exceptions would allow money to be spent for "targeted" and "limited' operations against al Qaeda; protecting U.S. personnel, and training Iraqi security forces.

It was unclear, however, how much support there would be in the closely divided Senate for such a move. But an aide to Senate Minority Leader and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell noted that many senators, including some Democrats, had said they would not vote to cut off funding for U.S. troops, even if they were unhappy with the war.

"My guess is most Republicans would welcome such a vote" to draw a clear line on funding, McConnell's aide said.

Reid said he would call for a vote on the Feingold legislation soon if Bush carries out his threat to veto the timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

The goal of getting all combat soldiers out by March 31, 2008, was contained in a "supplemental appropriations" bill providing about $100 billion in war funds and passed last week by the Senate on a mostly 51-47 party-line vote.