A retired U.S. Army general and former director of the National Security Agency has called on President Bush to sign a war funding bill passed by Congress this week that would authorize the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
In the Democratic Party's weekly radio address Saturday, former lieutenant general William Odom said he generally does not favor congressional involvement in foreign and military policy. But he said Mr. Bush has allowed the United States to squander its influence, money and blood in the Iraq war.
Odom said the challenge now is not how to win in Iraq, but how to recover from the mistake of invading Iraq in the first place.
President Bush has promised to veto the funding bill, which requires the U.S. to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq by October 1.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.