The Feed And Forage Act : Bush's Trump Card For Iraq Funding?

Passed originally in 1861 in wake of the crisis caused by the outbreak of the Civil War, the Feed and Forage Act provides that :
"§ 11. No contracts or purchases unless authorized or under adequate appropriation; report to the Congress
(a) No contract or purchase on behalf of the United States shall be made, unless the same is authorized by law or is under an appropriation adequate to its fulfillment, except in the Department of Defense and in the Department of Transportation with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, for clothing, subsistence, forage, fuel, quarters, transportation, or medical and hospital supplies, which, however, shall not exceed the necessities of the current year.
b) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy shall immediately advise the Congress of the exercise of the authority granted in subsection (a) of this section, and shall report quarterly on the estimated obligations incurred pursuant to the authority granted in subsection (a) of this section."
What this means is that the Secretary of Defense has the legal authority to continue funding active duty troops without any Congressional Appropriation in order to ensure their basic living needs are met. It apparently does not cover munitions and equipment, but as it does say that the amount "shall not exceed the necessities of the current year" this would still give the Department of Defense a large amount of credit to work with, all without any Congressional yay or nay, and the cost of all this spending coming back to Congress at a later date.
Now the question is can this law be used for supporting missions overseas, and what oversight would Congress have to ensure that its implementation was narrowly interpreted? I don't have all the answers to those questions, but I am very sure Bush would have the Secretary of Defense activate the law should funding for the troops get caught in the showdown between the Congressional leadership and the President. It almost happened in 2005, when the Republican-controlled Congress was dilly-dallying on passing appropriations bills to the point the Defense Department was nearly out of funding.
So the question becomes, if Reid and the Congressional Leadership stand firm, does anything change for the troops in Iraq? Unless the Courts were to rule the administration was illegally using the Feed and Forage Act inapprorpiately, Bush and his administration will still have the money needed to fund operations in Iraq until such time as either the Executive and Legislative branches agree to a compromise both can live with, a President who agrees with the Legislative Branch is elected to office, or a Legislative majority in agreement with the President is elected.
I'm not saying Reid is wrong to say "Never Give In," but in this case I do fear the best cards still lay with in the Bush administration's hands, with both the veto power and a law already on the books and used in the past that can allow funding for military operations without Congressional approval.
And if Bush invokes Feed And Forage to keep US Personnel in Iraq until he decides they are no longer needed, what is our next step to try and end this war?
Beside the obvious...elect a Democratic Party candidate President in 2008 and ensure a 60 seat Democratic Senate and increase the Democratic majority in Congress would of course.
LinkHere