Castro attacks Bush, says he's 'apocalyptic'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Fidel Castro called George W. Bush "an apocalyptic person" on Friday, hours after the US president signed a bill that will pay for military operations in Iraq without setting a timetable for troop withdrawal. In his latest comments as he convalesces from intestinal surgery, the 80-year-old Cuban leader accused Bush of "faking rationality" and manipulating US public opinion. "Just yesterday, Bush bragged about having won the battle over his adversaries in Congress," Castro wrote in a wandering four-page statement. "He has US$100 billion, all the money he needs to duplicate, however he wishes, the sending of American troops to Iraq and continue the slaughter." The US$120 billion bill approved Thursday by the US House 280-142 funds the war through September and sets no date for a troop pullout to begin. The Senate approved it 80-14. Bush signed it on Friday.