Iraqi Slams U.S. Senate Vote

The Iraqi government is blasting the U.S. Senate for approving the troop-withdrawal bill, saying it sends the wrong message to insurgents. "We see it as a loss of four years of sacrifices," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said yesterday of the legislation, which mandates an October 1 deadline for the beginning of a pullout.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the BBC this week that "any premature timetable would not be realistic." President Bush has vowed to veto the bill, the first binding war legislation the newly Democratic-controlled Congress has sent  to the White House. It passed the House Wednesday and the Senate yesterday, but without enough votes to ensure an override. (More Iraq stories.)