PHP Script to Backup MySQL Database

I'm trying to write a PHP script to backup a MySQL database:

   if ( $db_resource = mysql_connect($db_server, $db_username, $db_password, $db_newlink) )
   {
      if ( mysql_select_db( $db_name, $db_resource ) )
      {
         $backupFile = $db_name."_".date( "Y-m-d-H-i-s" ).".gz";
         $command = "mysqldump --opt -h ".$db_server." -u ".$db_username." -p ".$db_password." ".$db_name." | gzip > ".$db_save_dir."/".$backupFile;
         system( $command );
      }
   }

   mysql_close( $db_resource );

When I run it from the shell terminal, I get this:

[stingray]$ php /[ABSOLUTE PATH]/db_backup.php

Enter password: [I INPUT PASSWORD]

mysqldump: Got error: 1044: Access denied for user '[USERNAME]'@'208.113.128.0/255.255.128.0' to database '[PASSWORD]' when selecting the database

Okay, now what I really don't understand is why it is calling the database as my password. If I point my web browser at the file, it runs just fine. Does anyone know what I should be doing? Personally, I really don't care if it's PHP, Python, CGI, etc., just so long as it can run on an Apache server.

Thanks.

The syntax for the password flag is different. Remove the space after the -p flag and give it another shot.