Obama predicts approval of war funds

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- If President Bush vetoes an Iraq war spending bill as promised, Congress quickly will provide the money without the withdrawal timeline the White House objects to because no lawmaker ''wants to play chicken with our troops,'' Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday.

''My expectation is that we will continue to try to ratchet up the pressure on the president to change course,'' the Democratic presidential candidate said in an interview with the Associated Press. ''I don't think that we will see a majority of the Senate vote to cut off funding at this stage.''

Obama (D-Ill.) has made his opposition to the war a centerpiece of his campaign and has used it to differentiate himself from rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq.

In the interview, Obama pointed to a speech he gave five months before the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. In that address, Obama warned of grave consequences if the U.S. went into Iraq.

''I think that it's important for voters to get a sense of how the next president will make decisions in a foreign policy arena,'' said Obama.

AP