Washington: Hillary Clinton today accused President George W Bush of spending billions of dollars to police Iraq's "civil war" while cutting crime fighting in dangerous US inner cities.

The Democratic hopeful vowed to cut the murder rate in big cites by half if she becomes president, promised 1,00,000 new police officers on the streets, and laid out steps to cut America's huge prison population.

"It is a sad day in America when the president can find hundreds of billions of dollars to police another country's civil war, but cuts funding for police officers right here at home."

"We deserve better," said Clinton in a speech in a mostly African-American district of Philadelphia, a gritty northeastern city in Pennsylvania, which holds a Democratic primary on April 22.

As well as boosting police ranks, Clinton would spend money to try to reduce gang violence and drug markets, and would promote an initiative to crack down on illegal gun trafficking.

She would also spend a billion dollars to try to prevent prisoners re-offending, particularly targeting juvenile convicts.

Clinton's speech, and the fact she chose to give it in Philadelphia will be seen as a sign she is not ceding the African-American vote to her rival Barack Obama, as the city is seen as his biggest Pennsylvania support base.

The New York senator needs a big win in the state to keep her campaign alive, and leads the surging Obama by only six points in a recent poll.

Source : PTI