US/SPAIN: President Bush told officials from 83 countries on the anniversary of the start of the Iraq war yesterday that differences over the conflict were in the past, and urged no concessions in the broader war on terrorism.
"No concession will appease their hatred," Mr Bush said of al-Qaeda and its supporters. "No accommodation will satisfy their endless demands. Their ultimate ambitions are to control the peoples of the Middle East, and to blackmail the rest of the world with weapons of mass terror."
Mr Bush devoted much of a speech marking the anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq to the fight against terrorism. Many governments resist linking the two since there was no evidence connecting Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda, and Iraq only became a magnet for foreign fighters after Saddam was toppled.
In the audience in the White House East Room were ambassadors and other ranking diplomats from 83 countries, including Iraq war opponents France, Germany, Canada and Russia.
"There have been disagreements in this matter among old and valued friends," Mr Bush said. "Those differences belong to the past. All of us can now agree that the fall of the Iraqi dictator has removed a source of violence, aggression and instability in the Middle East."
Mr Bush was trying to restore the global unanimity that existed in the war on terrorism before the Iraq conflict that produced a bitter international divide.
He was clearly referring to the situation in Spain, where the Madrid atrocity was a factor in Spanish voters throwing out a pro-US government in favour of Socialist Mr Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who has said he is withdrawing Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq.
"Any sign of weakness or retreat simply validates terrorist violence, and invites more violence for all nations. The only certain way to protect our people is by united and decisive action," Mr Bush said.
He said each attack was intended to "demoralise our people and divide us from one another", and that each attack must be met with "greater determination, deeper resolve and bolder action against the killers.
"There is no neutral ground in the fight between civilisation and terror, because there is no neutral ground between good and evil, freedom and slavery, and life and death."
However, Mr Bush's opponent in the November presidential election, Democrat Mr John Kerry, accused him yesterday of misleading Americans. "Simply put, this president didn't tell the truth about the war from the beginning. And our country is paying the price." - (Reuters)