"It makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing," he said.

The Democratic-led Congress sent Bush the bill on the fourth anniversary of his "Mission Accomplished" speech, during which he declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended.

The war, however, has dragged on, and has claimed the lives of over 3,300 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

The bill, which would require the Bush administration to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq by Oct. 1, with a goal of ending U.S. combat operations there by next March, was designed to provide nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars for American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

Bush said setting a deadline for withdrawal "is setting a date for failure," and that was "a prescription for chaos and confusion."

Urging the Democratic-led Congress to give his troops buildup plan in Iraq "a chance to work," Bush also expressed his desire "to work with the Congress to resolve this matter as quickly as possible."

Bush and congressional leaders from both parties would meet at the White House Wednesday on the spending bill.

He warned that without a war-funding bill, the military "has to take money from some other account or training program so the troops in combat have what they need" and to "consider cutting back on buying new equipment or repairing existing equipment."

Democrats immediately rebutted Bush's veto.

"The president may be content with keeping our troops mired in the middle of an open-ended civil war, but we're not -- and neither are most Americans," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Reid said the president's refusal to sign the war spending bill was "his right," but he "has an obligation to explain his plan to responsibly end this war."

"We had hoped that the president would have treated it with respect," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

"Instead, the president vetoed the bill outright, and, frankly, misrepresented what this legislation does," she said.

Acknowledging there was "great distance" between the White House and Congress, Pelosi also expressed the wish to work with Bush to "find common ground" on the war funding bill.

Without sufficient votes in both chambers of Congress to override Bush's veto, Democrats were considering writing a new war spending bill that would provide funding to U.S. troops but also set certain benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet, news reports said.

Bush announced a reinforcement plan in January by sending over 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq to help quell escalating sectarian violence there, but his plan has met strong resistance from Congress, and the Iraq war, now in its fifth year, has become increasingly unpopular with the U.S. public.

A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted in April found that 57 percent of respondents now felt the Iraq war was a mistake, against 41 percent who said it was not.

In a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released last week, 56 percent of those interviewed said they agreed more with the Democrats on a deadline for troop withdrawal, against 37 percent who said they agreed with Bush that there should not be a deadline.

Aldarelli was arrested in February on an indictment charging him with three counts of tax evasion for calendar years 1998, 1999 and 2000. Chesler scheduled sentencing for Sept. 13.

The count to which Aldarelli pleaded guilty carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $100,000, according to the press release. The remaining counts will be dismissed, however, all of the conduct (known as relevant conduct) described in the indictment will be taken into consideration when Chesler imposes sentence.

The indictment sets forth that from 1998 through 2000, Aldarelli ran two corporations, Aldo 1 Landscaping and Lawn Service Inc. and Aldarelli Enterprises Inc., which performed a large volume of paving, construction, high-end landscaping and lawn-cutting work for private residences and municipalities.

Aldarelli admitted during his guilty plea that because these businesses were "S" corporations, he was required to report any income derived from the businesses on his U.S. individual tax return. The indictment further set forth that for the three years in question, Aldarelli reported that he owed tax in the amount of just under $15,000 for the three years combined.

For calendar year 1999, Aldarelli reported taxable income in the amount of $66,232 with a resulting tax in the amount of $12,121. During his guilty plea, Aldarelli admitted that he intentionally failed to include an additional amount of nearly $300,000 in personal income he received during 1999 on that tax return in an effort to evade paying income taxes, according to the press release. He also admitted that for calendar years 1998, 1999 and 2000, he owed an additional total tax of approximately $317,000 on the basis of income he failed to report.

Aldarelli admitted that this additional income stemmed from the receipt of cash for work his companies performed which he did not report, as well as from cash he withdrew from business accounts but used for personal expenses. He also admitted to writing checks to himself from the business accounts which he used for personal and non-business-related expenses, according to Christie.

The guilty plea of Aldarelli represents the latest conviction to arise from Operation Bid Rig, the same investigation which has led to charges being filed against more than 18 officials in Monmouth and Ocean counties over the last several years, including convictions of the former mayors of Asbury Park, Ocean Township, West Long Branch, Brick Township, Hazlet and Keyport.

"I do believe fitness is going to be an issue," Wagner said.

Thompson, 28, of Lombard pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment charging him with first-degree murder.

He is accused of killing his neighbor, 66-year-old James Malone, by throwing him off a balcony in the building where they lived on March 30. Thompson surrendered to authorities that evening after a nearly seven-hour standoff with police.

Thompson was a standout athlete at a suburban Chicago high school and played defensive end at Michigan State.

The New Orleans Saints signed Thompson in 2000. But he was cut before the start of the season after getting into a dispute with a teammate during a workout.

Thompson’s mother, Maggie Ross, has said doctors diagnosed her son with bipolar disorder and that he had stopped taking medication because the drugs made him feel listless and dizzy.

A 19-year-old man took responsibility Monday for being intoxicated and causing a Dec. 30, 2006, wreck that killed three siblings.

Jurors will return to the 347th District Court on Wednesday to decide the punishment of Scott Ryan Helgerson, who pleaded guilty to three counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Each charge is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison.

Sahar Mostaghasi, 24, and 12-year-old twins Negin and Sepehr Mostaghasi died in the wreck, which happened at Cimarron Boulevard and Brockhampton Street at about 5 a.m.

The siblings died after their vehicle, a 2006 Toyota Corolla, was struck by a 1998 Dodge Caravan driven by Helgerson, according to police.

Their brother, Morteza, 16, was a front-seat passenger in the vehicle.

He was released from a hospital two days after the accident.

Before Helgerson's plea Monday, his attorney, Richard Rogers, asked 347th District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos to recuse herself from the trial on the grounds that she inappropriately had a conversation in her chambers with Albert Huerta, the attorney representing the Mostaghasi family in a civil suit against Helgerson.

The Mostaghasi family is seeking an unspecified amount from Helgerson for damages including medical and funeral expenses and pain and suffering, according to a lawsuit filed by Huerta in January.

Huerta said Monday that the conversation was unrelated to the case.

After later speaking with his client, Rogers withdrew the motion.

Jury selection will begin Wednesday.

The statements Friday, during a private interview with investigators from the House and Senate Judiciary committees, make McNulty the latest senior Justice official to assert that he did not identify any of the U.S. attorneys to be fired and that his role was minimal.

Gonzales, former chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson and William E. Moschella, the principal associate deputy attorney general, also told Congress they did not choose who was fired.

"If the top folks at DOJ weren't the key decision-makers, it's less likely that lower-down people at DOJ were, and much more likely that people in the White House were making the major decisions," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Moschella was also interviewed last week. He told investigators he was solely responsible for a provision in the USA Patriot Act reauthorization law that gave Gonzales the authority to appoint U.S. attorneys for an indefinite time, a congressional aide said.

Moschella also said that, when the provision was drawn up in November 2005, he was not aware of a dispute over the appointment of a U.S. attorney in South Dakota, the aide said. Justice officials have pointed to that case as a key justification for the provision, which Congress has since repealed.

Democrats criticized Gonzales yesterday for giving Sampson and his White House liaison in March 2006 the authority to hire and fire certain employees. "It is disturbing to learn that the attorney general was granting extraordinary and sweeping authority to the same political operatives who were plotting with the White House to dilute our system of checks and balances in the confirmation of U.S. attorneys," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.).

Administration officials said Gonzales's order, published in the Federal Register and first reported yesterday by the National Journal on its Web site, codifies a process that is standard for agencies throughout the government in dealing with political appointees. "The notion that the White House shouldn't be involved in presidential appointments is bizarre," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

Legislation to improve enforcement of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) has been introduced in the House of Representatives the past three terms, but has never become law.