Bush to give money for Iraq war

US President George W. Bush urged Congress Saturday to approve a new and "responsible" funding bill for the Iraq war, warning of new violence if the money fail to materialize quickly.

"I call on Congress to work with my administration and quickly craft a responsible war spending bill," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "By working together, I believe we can pass a good bill quickly and give our troops the resources and flexibility they need."

On Tuesday, Bush vetoed a bill, which was to allocate 124 billion dollars in emergency funding for US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, because it contained a call for US combat troops to start coming home by October 1 and for most of them to be withdrawn by March 2008. He has appointed a high-level team led by his chief of staff, Josh Bolten, to negotiate with Congress a new version of the measure.

At the same time, he warned that if radical Islamists take control of Iraq, they would have control of a nation with massive oil reserves, which they could use to fund their ambitions and spread their influence.

"The Al-Qaeda terrorists who behead captives or order suicide bombings would not be satisfied to see America defeated and gone from Iraq," Bush said. "They would be emboldened by their victory, protected by their new sanctuary, eager to impose their hateful vision on surrounding countries, and eager to harm Americans."

AFP