WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrats in Congress Tuesday dismissed looming Pentagon layoffs of thousands of civilian defense workers over an Iraq war funding dispute as Bush administration scare tactics.
Republicans and the White House meanwhile tried to maneuver anti-war Democrats into a corner -- accusing them of callously withholding vital financing for frontline troops in Iraq, as Christmas approaches.
The latest fierce exchanges on the war came after Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned last week the army was preparing to furlough an estimated 200,000 civilian employees and defense contractors to free up money for Iraq.
He said the move was necessitated by the need to dip into regular Defense Department budgets, after a new emergency troop funding package failed to make it through Congress.
"They're scaring people. They're scaring the families of the troops ... That's the thing that's so despicable about what they're doing," said veteran anti-war Democratic congressman John Murtha.
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