Stung by criticism, Bush calls for offensive 'across the world'
by Maxim Kniazkov
Sat Sep 30, 12:03 PM ET (AFP)
US President George W. Bush called for fighting America's enemies "across the world" as he stepped up his counteroffensive following charges that his policies were breeding a new generation of Islamic terrorists.
The call, delivered in his weekly radio address, was aimed to counter a rash of accusations that the Bush administration had seriously mishandled the war in Iraq and created fertile political ground for Islamic extremism.
The criticism was fueled by a new National Intelligence Estimate, portions of which were declassified this past week. The document argues that the war in Iraq had spawned a new generation of Islamic radicals determined to strike against the United States.
Casting another cloud over the administration's policy was a new book by veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, "State of Denial", that alleges a number of policy blunders committed in Iraq, amid bitter feuding by the president and his closest aides and refusal to acknowledge reality.
The controversy may have further dimmed the public's view of the war. The latest CNN television poll showed 61 percent of Americans now believed the war in Iraq was going either "very badly" or "moderately badly," compared to 38 percent who thought it was going "very well" or "moderately well."
But Bush insisted Saturday that claims that the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq was helping foster anti-American terrorism were tantamount to buying "into the enemy's propaganda."
"The only way to protect our citizens at home is to go on the offense against the enemy across the world," the president said Saturday. "So we will remain on the offense until the terrorists are defeated and this fight is won."
The Republican president, who just two days ago branded opposition Democrats "the party of cut-and-run," argued an early withdrawal from Iraq, as suggested by some Democrats, would only embolden terrorists.
"It would help them find new recruits to carry out even more destructive attacks on our Nation, and it would give the terrorists a new sanctuary in the heart of the Middle East, with huge oil riches to fund their ambitions," Bush stressed. "America must not allow this to happen."
(More here.)
Sat Sep 30, 12:03 PM ET (AFP)
US President George W. Bush called for fighting America's enemies "across the world" as he stepped up his counteroffensive following charges that his policies were breeding a new generation of Islamic terrorists.
The call, delivered in his weekly radio address, was aimed to counter a rash of accusations that the Bush administration had seriously mishandled the war in Iraq and created fertile political ground for Islamic extremism.
The criticism was fueled by a new National Intelligence Estimate, portions of which were declassified this past week. The document argues that the war in Iraq had spawned a new generation of Islamic radicals determined to strike against the United States.
Casting another cloud over the administration's policy was a new book by veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, "State of Denial", that alleges a number of policy blunders committed in Iraq, amid bitter feuding by the president and his closest aides and refusal to acknowledge reality.
The controversy may have further dimmed the public's view of the war. The latest CNN television poll showed 61 percent of Americans now believed the war in Iraq was going either "very badly" or "moderately badly," compared to 38 percent who thought it was going "very well" or "moderately well."
But Bush insisted Saturday that claims that the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq was helping foster anti-American terrorism were tantamount to buying "into the enemy's propaganda."
"The only way to protect our citizens at home is to go on the offense against the enemy across the world," the president said Saturday. "So we will remain on the offense until the terrorists are defeated and this fight is won."
The Republican president, who just two days ago branded opposition Democrats "the party of cut-and-run," argued an early withdrawal from Iraq, as suggested by some Democrats, would only embolden terrorists.
"It would help them find new recruits to carry out even more destructive attacks on our Nation, and it would give the terrorists a new sanctuary in the heart of the Middle East, with huge oil riches to fund their ambitions," Bush stressed. "America must not allow this to happen."
(More here.)
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