Congress recently passed a bill that, among other things, prohibited spending Defense Department funds for establishing permanent military bases in Iraq. President Bush promptly signed it into law.

But in signing the bill, Bush added one of his “signing statements” making it clear that he would obey the base prohibition stricture and three others he found offensive only if he wanted to. He wrote: “The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the president.”

Many presidents have used signing statements to express reservations about bills they are signing, but this president has far outdone the others. He has bypassed or in effect partly vetoed 750 laws.

The other three provisions in the defense bill that didn’t suit his personal interpretation of the Constitution would create a commission to check on fraud, abuse and misuse of force by private contractors in the Iraq war, protect contractor employees who report abuses to Congress, and tighten requirements for the Pentagon to answer congressional questions. Two of the provisions – the ban on permanent bases and increased contracting oversight – were sponsored by Rep. Tom Allen in the House.

All four of the provisions in question reflect an effort by lawmakers to get a better grip on a war that started with an invasion that Bush steamrollered through Congress based on weak evidence and has degenerated into a hugely expensive quagmire. No end is in sight and numerous investigations have found evidence of waste, mismanagement and fraud.

The administration clearly is planning to continue the war for many years and is building a chain of bases in Iraq that it calls “enduring” rather than permanent establishments. Rep. Allen’s provision formalized comments from Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the United States has no plans or interest in permanent bases.

Rep. Allen’s language also created a commission to investigate contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Contracting in Iraq is already being reviewed by the Office of Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, a temporary agency that was created in legislation by Sen. Susan Collins. The Bush administration has tried to eliminate that agency as SIGIR, which is headed by Stuart Bowen who was deputy general counsel for then Gov. George W. Bush, has uncovered contracting problems.

Rather than publicly debate its objections to efforts by the Democratically controlled Congress to halt the prolonged institutionalization of the Iraq war, create its own commission to investigate management of the Iraq venture, and make sure that its investigations can get results, the Bush administration has simply said it will ignore these provisions.

This despite the fact that both parties supported the defense bill containing these provisions and that it passed overwhelmingly in both houses. Such disregard for the will of Congress does not bode well for future efforts to change the course or duration of the war while Bush remains president.