Bush signs $400bn defence bill

President George Bush signed a $401bn (€341bn) defence authorisation bill today, saying members of the US armed forces are facing “a great and historic task” in confronting and defeating the forces of terrorism.

“The stakes for our country could not be higher,” the president said at a Defence Department ceremony. “We face enemies that measure their progress by the chaos they inflict, the fear they spread and the innocent lives they destroy.”