Bush vows to strike US enemies first in terror war

Reuters | 5/03/03 | Patricia Wilson

[kattracks]

Bush vows to strike US enemies first in terror war

By Patricia Wilson

CRAWFORD, Texas, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush proclaimed victory in Iraq on Saturday but said the war on terror was far from over and vowed to hunt down America's enemies before they could strike.

He closely linked the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein to the campaign to stamp out terrorism launched after the Sept, 11, 2001, attacks despite the lack of a definitive connection between the two.

"The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that still goes on," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "The scattered cells of the terrorist networks still operate in many nations and we know from daily intelligence that they continue to plot against free people."

In an apparent warning to North Korea, Iran, Syria and other countries accused by Washington of helping terrorists or pursuing weapons of mass destruction, Bush said the United States would not stand idly by in the face of serious danger from the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical arms.

"Our government has taken unprecedented measures to defend our homeland and, more importantly, we will continue to hunt the enemy down before he can strike," Bush said.

The president also paid tribute to allies who offered military help in the war on Iraq, singling out Australia, whose prime minister, John Howard, is a guest at Bush's 1,600-acre (547 hectare) ranch near Crawford this weekend.

The two leaders flew together from California, where Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq from the deck of a homebound U.S. aircraft carrier, to central Texas aboard Air Force One on Friday evening.

Howard is the last of a trio of stalwart war supporters to win coveted invitations to "Prairie Chapel Ranch" for a social evening, a tour, talks and a Saturday news conference. Prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and Jose Maria Aznar of Spain already have visited.

'MUCH WORK TO DO'

Bush said Australian forces played "an important role in the liberation of Iraq," citing special operations during the opening days of the six-week war, bombing runs by FA-18 fighters, securing sites in western Iraq that could have been used to launch Scud missiles and helping British forces take control of the Faw Peninsula.

Howard and Bush were expected to discuss how Iraq will be secured, rebuilt and steered along the road to democracy.

"Our coalition still has much work to do in Iraq. We are bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous," Bush said. "The transition from dictatorship to democracy is hard and will take time, but it is worth every effort."

Bush said U.S. and other forces would stay in Iraq until their work was done; "then we will leave and we will leave behind a free Iraq."

Australia plans to open an office in Baghdad soon to help coordinate its involvement in rebuilding postwar Iraq. But most of the 2,000 military personnel that Australia sent to fight alongside U.S. and British troops in the Gulf will start to return home this month.

Howard has so far ruled out sending a significant peacekeeping force to Iraq, saying Australia already has peacekeeping obligations in East Timor and the South Pacific.

But Australia has sent a small contingent of military and civilians to Iraq to help search for weapons of mass destruction, control air traffic at Baghdad airport and try to get Iraq's agricultural sector up and running again.

Bush repeatedly justified the war as necessary to remove Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that he said posed a direct threat to the United States. But so far the United States has failed to find any chemical or biological weapons almost a month after toppling Saddam's government.

American forces have looked at about 10 percent of about 1,000 sites on a list provided to the war commanders but a senior U.S. official said he believed there were probably thousands more not on that list.

05/03/03 09:25 ET

[b4its2late]

Great News!

[RockBassCreek]

He closely linked the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein to the campaign to stamp out terrorism launched after the Sept, 11, 2001, attacks despite the lack of a definitive connection between the two.

MORE socialist trash from Reuters.

Let me repeat the words of the war on terror: those who participated in, sponsored, aided, abetted.....whether individuals or nations.

There is a definitive link now (always was) between Iraq, Al Quaeda, and Bin Laden.

After finding that link, we don't even NEED to find WMDs in Iraq. Before the WMDs became the issue, the President said he would attack those linked to Al Qaeda. Period.

Agents and documents of Al Qaeda (and other terror groups) have BEEN FOUND in Iraq.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

The BUSH Doctrine =

'Bringing DEMOCRACY and FREEDOM to the Common Man and Woman everyhwere is Everyone's Answer'

WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BushCountry]

Crap, I don't care if their were WMDs, Links to terrorists, or any of that mumble jumble. What I do care about, is that the message is loud and clear in the middle east, "Don't Tread On US!"

Liberals can kiss my big fat behind and are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites! The world is a much better place now and has a brighter future because of our actions in Iraq. The middle east might even become sane and democratic! These are historic times.

[VOA]

'Bringing DEMOCRACY and FREEDOM to the Common Man and Woman everyhwere is Everyone's Answer'

Works for me...as long as we have a fairly clear grasp of the cost, personal
sacrifice of our men and women at arms, risks to our civilians and those of friendly
countries, and impact on the US and world economy.
And exit strategies.

I wasn't being defeatist by listing those caveats...just tempering the wonderful
idealism of "fighting to make men free" with realism about what human "blood, toil,
sweat and tears" can purchase for the oppressed of this planet.

Just to let lurkers (especially from DU) know where I stand, I'll repeat my
poster text in response to the anti-war/anti-Dubya protests:

LIBERATION FROM TYRANTS --
IT'S NOT JUST FOR WHITE EUROPEANS ANY MORE!

I got tired of watching the French and Germans living in civilized democracies
purchased on the sands of Normandy...denying the same benefit for the cilivians of Iraq.
(As they did for the people of South Vietnam).
All I could conclude is they hold a racist ideology that liberation from murderous
tyrants is only the birthright of white people.
As for swarthy Middle Easterners and Southeast Asian, as far as Chirac, Schroeder
and the rest of Old, Doddering Europe is concerned, those brown people can just
puke and die.
And they have the nerve to accuse Americans of being racist rednecks.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

This was -THE WEEK THAT WAS-

Monday BUSH declares that the Anti-War Protestors were mistaken in thinking that DEMOCRACY and FREEDOM were the Property of just one People or Culture when they belong to all the Peoples and Cultures of the World.

Thursday BUSH declares that DEMOCRACY and FREEDOM are coming to all the Peoples and Cultures of the World because...

...they will then be less likely to attack...

...US..!!!

We are all so blessed to be witnessing the Birth of a Century of Freedom before our very eyes.

[Psycho_Bunny]

He closely linked the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein to the campaign to stamp out terrorism launched after the Sept, 11, 2001, attacks despite the lack of a definitive connection between the two

There is a definitive connection between the two.....it's called "Islam".

[VOA]

We are all so blessed to be witnessing the Birth of a Century of Freedom before
our very eyes.

Amen to that!

"...a new birth of freedom..."
I think that's something that the namesake of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham
Lincoln said once...

I'm suprised that more of the complaining journalists haven't protested that
Duyba didn't try to be more "bi-partisan" or "inclusive" by flying onto
an aircraft carrier named after a Democrat (e.g., USS Harry Truman).

What else could I expect from a bunch of (French-like) whiners?

[Joy Angela]

We are all so blessed to be witnessing the Birth of a Century of Freedom before our very eyes.

Go Bush!

[Joy Angela]

"Our government has taken unprecedented measures to defend our homeland and, more importantly, we will continue to hunt the enemy down before he can strike," Bush said.

Hillary Rodham Clinton
The ENEMY Within

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

How much of a proven connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda do you need for the liberal media to regard it as definitive?

[Joy Angela]

I'm suprised that more of the complaining journalists haven't protested that Duyba didn't try to be more "bi-partisan" or "inclusive" by flying onto an aircraft carrier named after a Democrat (e.g., USS Harry Truman).

Free the Slaves from the tyranny of Communism!

In our time of freedom, millions of souls still live under tyranny and brutality.

Mankind longs to be free.

Mankind waits for Freedom.

God Bless President Bush - And his Emancipation Declaration for ALL People on Earth.

[TLBSHOW]

The National security of this nation is number one and is what thins out the boys from the men. This is what will win the 2004 election above all else for a Republican Landslide 2004. Who in their right mind would vote for the demoRats that would do nothing to protect America?

Example is Democrat rat impeached Clinton, who did nothing for 8 long years while we were under attack by the Islam cult.