Bush tries to save face...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush has warned opposition Democrats against cutting funds for the Iraq war, and challenged those who oppose his new plan to put an alternative on the table.

"Those who refuse to give this plan a chance to work have an obligation to offer an alternative that has a better chance for success. To oppose everything while proposing nothing is irresponsible," he said in his weekly radio address.

Bush also downplayed hostility to his blueprint among Democrats who now control the US Congress and his Republican allies, as some opponents of the US presence in Iraq have threatened to try to withhold spending.

He called his new plan "an important mission that will in large part determine the outcome in Iraq" and warned that "our brave troops should not have to wonder if their leaders in Washington will give them what they need."