Oh what a shock…….

WASHINGTON - Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) said Monday he won’t block Senate passage of an Iraq war spending bill even if the GOP fails to kill its troop withdrawal deadline because he knows President Bush will veto it.

Facing a cliffhanging vote this week, McConnell promised to fight the provision, which calls for combat troops to be brought home within a year. Even if he fails, McConnell said he won’t stand in the way of the bill’s final passage because the sooner it is sent to the president, the sooner Bush can veto it.

Unable to override the veto, Democrats will then be forced to redraft the bill without a “surrender deadline,” McConnell predicted.

“Our goal is to pass it quickly,” McConnell said of the war spending bill. “Our troops need the money.”

The Senate’s $122 billion bill would finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but require that Bush begin pulling out some troops right away with the goal of ending combat missions by March 31, 2008.

The House passed a similar measure last week, but with a tougher deadline. Whereas the Senate identifies March 2008 as a goal - giving the president leeway to ignore the deadline - the House voted 218-212 to require all combat troops out as of Aug. 31, 2008.

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