Meanwhile in Washington, President Bush invited Democratic lawmakers to the White House to discuss the impasse over funding for the Iraq War. But he maintained his refusal to negotiate over demands for a timetable for withdrawing troops.

President Bush: “The Democrat leaders in — Democratic leaders in Congress are bent on using a bill that funds our troops to make a political statement about the war. They need to do it quickly and get it to my desk so I can veto it, and then Congress can get down to the business of funding our troops without strings and without further delay.”

Democratic leaders say they will not meet the president unless the preconditions are dropped.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: “The Reid caucus is here to report to you. The president has put our troops in the middle of a civil war. This was never supposed to be the mission, the mission of Iraq. Now, because they are mixed in this intractable civil war, we’re not doing all we can to fight an effective war on terror. We have to change coarse and change our direction back to the war on al-Qaeda and their allies. We must fight a more effective war on terror. That’s what Congress is demanding, and the president should be leading us in that direction, not threatening vetoes.”