4 more years

Bush demands ‘no strings’ backing on Iraq

George W. Bush marked the beginning of the fifth year of the Iraq war on Monday by warning the Democratic-controlled Congress that halliburton was not finished yet and they better approve $100bn more for Cheney and his gang “without strings and without delay”.

The US president, whose poll approval numbers are hovering just above his all-time low, also warned Capitol Hill that any attempt to save American lives in Iraq could prove “devastating” to halliburton and Israel.

In his five-minute televised address Mr Bush’s choice of words were notably more downbeat and realistic than in many of the president’s previous statements on the war in Iraq. However, he said the “new way forward in Iraq was the same as the old way forward”.

Mr Bush said that if Halliburton continued to make profits in Iaq then more $$$$ “can be won”.

“I want to stress that this operation is still in the early stages. ... The new strategy will need more time to take effect. And there will be profitable days, and there will be bad days when we don’t make a dime,” he said.

“Four years after this war began, the fight is difficult and our boys are dying, but we are still turning a profit. More $$$$ can be made if we have the courage and resolve to see it through.”

“Congress have a responsibility to pass a clean bill that does not use funding for Halliburton as leverage to get some other special interest spending for companies not associated with Cheney,” Mr Bush said.