It's actually pretty clever. The Bush administration loses no matter what they do. Bush has no choice. He HAS to veto the thing. And vetoing it makes him look "soft on terrorism", and also forces a further withholding of an earmarked 70 billion dollars for the Iraq war while the whole charlie foxtrot gets sorted out.
As the NY Times puts it,
The veto was an embarrassment for administration officials, who struggled on Friday to explain why they had not acted earlier to object to the provision, Section 1083 of a 1,300-page, $696 billion military authorization bill. It would expand the ability of Americans to seek financial compensation from countries that supported or sponsored terrorist acts, including Libya, Iran and Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
I've seen some sources that claim that the veto is due to machinations on the part of the Bush administration itself, but this is only making them look bad. Whoever came up with the idea to put this into the defense bill has given Bushco a serious black eye.
If they allow the bill through, the puppet Iraqi government that they're propping up like "Weekend At Bernie's" becomes vulnerable to lawsuits from the very American citizens they claim to be "protecting". Simultaneously the stars-and-stripes veil is also pulled away from their true level of "support for the troops", in a manner that CANNOT be ignored or easily explained away by the mainstream media.
Vetoing the bill protects the Iraqi travesty of government, but at a cost: "the Commander Guy" is shown to not care as much about the safety or well being of American citizens (whether serving in the military or not) as he and his like to pretend. And this goes directly home to the primary Bushco support base: the 24 percenters, the military/industrial complex itself.
Best of all: Congress can also continue to pass this bill COMPLETELY UNCHANGED, and Bush will HAVE to keep vetoing it - which will make it crystal clear to his primary support base exactly how much "The Decider" prioritizes supporting the troops AND working for the safety of the American people.
They can't win this. It's beautiful. And meanwhile impeachment creeps closer and closer to that table. Reportedly, Rep. Weiner (D, NY) has joined Wexler, Gutierrez and Baldwin in calling for impeachment hearings for Cheney.
Incidentally, signatures are at 158286 and counting. For those who like to count things. ;-7
Gee I wonder if that number's going to jump if "the Decider" keeps having to veto the defense bill? :)