WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday night failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States.

    "Failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States," he said in a prime-time televised speech.

    "The consequences of failure are clear: radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions," Bush said.