Bush: US must not retreat in Iraq
Two days before a major anti-war demonstration, US President George Bush said today that withdrawing American forces from Iraq would make the world more dangerous and allow terrorists “to claim an historic victory over the US”.
Bush said terrorists have been emboldened over the years by the hesitant US response to a hostage crisis with Iran in the Carter administration, the bombing of US Marines barracks in Lebanon during the Reagan administration, the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre during the Clinton administration, and other events.
“The terrorists concluded we lacked the courage and character to defend ourselves,” the president said. “The only way the terrorists can win is if we lose our nerve and abandon the mission.
“For the safety and security of the American people, that’s not going to happen on my watch,” he said.
Bush spoke at the Defence Department after receiving a briefing on the global war on terrorism, focusing mainly on Iraq and Afghanistan.
