In the latest showdown with the US Congress, President George W Bush has vetoed the bill on troops withdrawal from Iraq.

The historic showdown came Tuesday evening with Bush casting the second veto of his Presidency on an issue he is totally on the opposite side of not only the Congress, but also of the American public.

Bush said no to the bill that would have required the first American combat soldiers to be withdrawn from Iraq by October 1, 2007, with an eventual goal of total pullout six months later.

"This is a prescription for chaos and confusion and we must not impose it on our troops," Bush said in a nationally broadcast statement from the White House.

The legislation, said Bush, would 'mandate a rigid and artificial deadline' for troops pullout, and 'it makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing'.

But Democrats, who have long criticised the President for leading the country into a 'collossal mistake' that has left some 3350 military personnel dead, were quick once again to take Bush to task for the continuing the stalemate.

"The President wants a blank check," quipped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shortly after Bush's appearance.

"The Congress is not going to give it to him," she said, adding that Congress would work with him to find the common ground.

"If the President thinks by vetoing this bill, he'll stop us from working to change the direction of the war in Iraq, he is mistaken," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

The Democrats know that there is simply no way of overriding the veto as they fall short of numbers.

Both in the House and in the Senate, the legislation passed on razor-thin margins and along most party lines.

Hence, Democrats have started looking for ways to come around the $124.2 billion spending bill that can attract attention of the White House.

Bush has called for a bipartisan meeting of legislators at the White House on Wednesday in what is seen by many as a long and difficult negotiating road, mostly on a language that will be acceptable to both parties.

Bush has also asked lawmakers to take the 'political fat' out of the spending bill. "Whatever our differences, surely we can agree that our troops are worthy of this funding and that we have a responsibility to get it to them without further delay," Bush said.