Hours after United States President George W Bush warned Americans that August could be a bloody month for troops in Iraq, the US House of Representatives passed a $120 billion Iraq war budget.
After the House voted 280 to 142 on Thursday to get the funding legislation off its turf, the Senate voted by a margin of 80 to 14 to send the legislation to the White House. The expectation is that the President will have the legislation signed by the Memorial Day Weekend.
The Democrats in the House and the Senate finally bowed down to the wishes and pressure of the White House, but vowed to carry on the struggle.
"This debate will go on," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had a tougher message.
"Senate Democrats will not stop our efforts to change the course of this war until either enough Republicans join with us to reject President Bush's failed policy or we get a new president," he said.
The bill has established a series of goals for the Iraqi government to meet as it strives to build a democratic country to defend its own borders but the president will have the authority to call the shots on funding irrespective of how the government in Baghdad performs.
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