Obama says he will raise pay for troops

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he wants to raise the pay of America's fighting forces and improve health care and benefits for veterans.

The president also says he will soon announce a way to responsibly end the war in Iraq — and a new path for the war in Afghanistan.

Defense and foreign policy were a small part of Obama's first address to Congress, which focused on the economic crisis.

Obama says his plan to close the Guantanamo Bay prison will make America stronger. Ands the president says he will seek what he calls swift and certain justice for terrorists, and vows anew not to allow terrorists a haven to plot against the United States.