On the April 18 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, during a report of the standoff between congressional Democrats and President Bush over supplemental funding for the Iraq war, Fox News White House correspondent Wendell Goler uncritically reported that Bush recently “warned [that] the delay in approving the funding risks keeping troops longer in the field.” In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, not only has the administration already forced extended tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced on April 11 that, effective immediately, the tours of duty for all Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan will be extended by three months.

Goler reported that both sides of the debate “use[] soldiers and their families to bolster their argument,” airing a clip from a soldier's mother urging the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and then noting that Bush, “surrounded by servicemen and women and family members,” held “the opposite view.” Goler then added uncritically that Bush “warned the delay in approving the funding risks keeping troops longer in the field.”

But the administration also has forced extended tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has curtailed thousands of soldiers' time at home, away from a war zone -- and reports indicate that this will continue. In addition, on April 11, Gates announced: “Effective immediately, active Army units now in the Central Command area of responsibility and those headed there will deploy for not more than 15 months and return home for not less than 12 months.” According to Gates, the decision came as a direct result of Bush's so-called troop “surge”: "[T]his policy is a matter of prudent management, will provide us with the capacity to sustain the deployed force." As the weblog ArchPundit noted, following Gates' announcement, Democratic Caucus chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel (IL) recognized the contradiction in Bush's accusation immediately preceding Gates' announcement: “What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, extending tours of duty was 'unacceptable' to the President. Today, it is Pentagon policy. American troops and taxpayers are paying the price for a war with no end in sight.”

Further, as Media Matters has noted, the previous two supplemental spending bills for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan passed by a Republican-led Congress have taken longer to reach Bush's desk.

From the April 18 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:

GOLER: Each side uses soldiers and their families to bolster their argument. Democrats began the day with some who opposed the war.

SUE DINSDALE (mother of soldier): I asked my son before I came here today, does this demoralize you, does it bother you? And he said to me, “No, Mom.” He says this is what we need to do. We need to get the troops home.

GOLER: On Monday, the president was surrounded by servicemen and women and family members with the opposite view. He warned the delay in approving the funding risks keeping troops longer in the field. And Army Specialist Kate Norley, who served as a medic in Iraq, said the uncertainty takes a toll.

NORLEY: To be kind of left in this state with so much room for doubt is not fair. And it actually, you know, it's going to worsen, again, any of our productiveness over there.

GOLER: Democrats expect a House/Senate conference version of the funding bill to be passed by the end of next week. President Bush has said he'll veto it and that Democrats know they don't have the votes to override the veto. The next bill is likely to replace troop withdrawal deadlines with benchmarks for the Iraqis to meet, which the president seemed to indicate Monday he'll consider.