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Bush rejects calls for pullout
17/08/2006 08:11 - (SA)
Lancaster - President George W Bush
strongly defended his Iraq war policy against Democratic
demands to bring US troops home and warned on Wednesday that
if America leaves, Iraq could become a country controlled by
terrorists willing to use oil as a weapon.
"Leaving before we complete our mission would create a
terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East, a country with
huge oil reserves that the terrorist network would be willing
to use to extract economic pain from those of us who believe in
freedom," Bush said.
In a campaign speech for former National Football League
star Lynn Swann, the Republican candidate for governor of
Pennsylvania, Bush appeared to be addressing those Democrats
who are trying to turn the November congressional elections
into a referendum on his handling of the Iraq war.
He did not specifically mention Democrats. But Democratic
congressional leaders last month urged Bush to start pulling
out US troops from Iraq this year while not specifying a time
frame for completing the withdrawal.
Bush's popularity ratings are near the lowest of his
presidency due largely to dissatisfaction over Iraq.
It was his first stump speech of the fall congressional
election, Bush showed how he plans to reject Democrats who
consider the Iraq war a failed policy.
"They want us to cut and run and there are some good people
in our country who believe we should cut and run. They are not
bad people when they say that, they are decent people, I just
happen to believe they are wrong," Bush said. "This would be a
defeat for the United States in a key battleground in the
global war on terror."
His voice rising with emotion, Bush added: "If we were to
leave before the mission is complete, it would hurt US
credibility. Who would want to stand with the United States of
America if we didn't complete the mission in a mission that can
be completed, and will be completed?"
'Enemy will follow us home'
"If we leave before the mission is complete, if we
withdraw, the enemy will follow us home," he said.
The Bush administration has reacted to the Democrats'
election of Ned Lamont, an anti-war candidate who defeated
incumbent Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut
primary a week ago, by portraying Democrats as soft on
terrorism.
Bush also said the terror plot in Britain that led to
arrests a week ago was similar to al-Qaeda activities in the
past but he was reluctant to blame it on the extremist group,
saying only that "it's the kind of activities that al-Qaeda has
done in the past."
"And so we've got to use new tactics, new efforts, new
assets to protect ourselves against an enemy that will strike
us at any moment. This war on terror is more than just chasing
down people hiding in caves or preventing people from getting
on airplanes to blow them up," he said.
- Reuters
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