Republican and Democratic congressional leaders both forecast a change in President Bush's Iraq war policy as the president prepared to sign legislation Friday providing funds for military operations through Sept. 30.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday the Iraq spending bill is a disappointment because it does not end the war, but that it's only a matter of time before Democrats get their way.

Congressional Democrats will lose the first round when President Bush signs a new Iraq spending bill into law as early as Friday, but they say their drive to end the war has just begun.

Congress ended a months-long standoff with President Bush on Thursday by approving a $120 billion spending bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Congress voted Thursday to meet President Bush’s demand for almost $100 billion to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through September, providing a momentary truce in a bitter struggle over war policy.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Among the headstones of Iraq and Afghanistan war dead buried in Arlington National Cemetery is a small but growing community of broken hearts who have found one other.

Democrats may have lost the first round with President Bush on ending the war in Iraq since taking over Congress in January, but they say their fight has just begun.

CONFERENCE: US President George W. Bush speaks during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington May 24. (REUTERS) WASHINGTON -- The US Congress sent President George W. Bush a multibillion-dollar Iraq war budget Thursday, after bowing to his demands to rip out troop withdrawal timelines that prompted a previous veto.

The US Congress has passed a multi-billion Iraq war spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, without a timetable for a troop withdrawal as demanded by the Democratic party.

Bowing to President Bush, the Democratic-controlled House reluctantly approved fresh billions for the Iraq war on Thursday, minus the troop withdrawal timeline that drew his earlier veto.