Soros blasts Bush over rhetoric

MULTI-BILLIONAIRE George Soros has launched a scathing public attack on President Bush, likening his administration's rhetoric to that of the former Soviet Union.

'I lived through both German and Soviet occupation,' Fortune magazine quotes Soros saying. 'When I hear President Bush say that those who are not with us are against us, I hear alarm bells.'

The hedge fund investor has also put his money where his mouth is, donating $10m (£6m) to the Democratic presidential campaign. Soros says in the interview that Bush's approach to international democracy, that 'you can have freedom as long as you do what we tell you to do', was dangerous and similar to the rhetoric of Soviet Union.

Soros is soon to publish a book, The Bubble of American Supremacy, attacking what he sees as Bush's tendency to resort to violence and ignore international co-operation.

He predicts that global capitalism is heading for a crisis caused by Bush's policies. 'It has been brought about by the exploitation of 11 September...to pursue its policy of dominating the world in the guise of fighting terrorism,' he said. The 'sirens of military dominance' and an easy victory in the Iraq had persuaded the US that it could achieve its international aims through war.

Soros has given away more than $4bn to philanthropic causes, mostly in Eastern Europe, over the past decade.