During Friday's White House press conference, veteran reporter Helen Thomas got into a testy exchange with press secretary Dana Perino over the ongoing war in Iraq.

"Does the president want no troops out from Iraq on his watch," Thomas asked. "I'm talking about all troops."

Perino countered, "Well, 5,700 troops will be home by the end of the year, so that is some troops coming home. The President said that troop levels are going to be made by commanders on the ground, and that we're going to have to talk about --"

"Why should it be?" Thomas interrupted. "Why can't the American people have a say?"

Perino pointed to the 2004 election: "The American people have had a say. They elected a President who is their Commander-in-Chief and is making decisions based on what his commanders on the ground are telling him."

"And you think that was the vote of the American people?" Thomas pressed.