US: President George W Bush yesterday strongly defended his Iraq policy in the face of mounting domestic criticism over the war and vowed to accept "nothing less than a total victory over the terrorists".
A speech he made to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Utah marked Mr Bush's first public attempt to directly answer the criticism of Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq and whose protest outside Mr Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, has served to rally the anti-war movement.
Aiming to shore up support for the war, Mr Bush reminded Americans of the September 11th attacks and said that the only way to protect the US homeland was to fight the terrorists on their own turf. "We're not yet safe," he said. "Terrorists in foreign lands still hope to attack our country. We must confront threats before they fully materialise. A policy of retreat and isolation will not bring us safety. The only way to defend our citizens where we live is to go after the terrorists where they live."
The president broke from his summer holiday to deliver the speech amid plummeting support for the war - the latest polls show that a growing majority of Americans believe the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a mistake.
A protest organised by bereaved mother Cindy Sheehan, just a short distance from Mr Bush's Texas ranch, has proved to be a public relations coup for the anti-war movement and has galvanised national support for her cause. Ms Sheehan, whose 24-year-old army specialist son was killed in Iraq in April 2004, has become a regular fixture on every news channel.
Increasing parallels are also being drawn with the Vietnam war. Republican senator Chuck Hagel told ABC News that the conflict had destabilised Iraq. He said that a stronger US military presence there was not the solution."The longer we stay, the more problems we're going to have."
In his speech, President Bush acknowledged that the conflict would be a long haul, but insisted that it would be worth the sacrifice. He told his audience that terrorists were fighting on behalf of a hateful ideology which despised everything America stood for. "America will not wait for an attack again. Our goal is clear. We will accept nothing less than a total victory over the terrorists."
He acknowledged that the struggle to complete the Iraqi constitution was a difficult process but expressed confidence that it would be a "landmark event in the history of the Middle East" and would reflect the values and traditions of the Iraqi people.
The president insisted that US troops would not come home until the Iraqi forces could defend their own freedom. "We will finish the task [ the US troops] gave their lives for. We will honour their sacrifice by staying on the offensive against the terrorists," he said.
The Utah speech was Mr Bush's first high-profile attempt to boost support for the war since he addressed a military audience in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in June. He is due to address a National Guard audience in Nampa, Idaho, tomorrow.
Yesterday's speech follows the revelation that the US army is planning for the possibility of keeping more than 100,000 soldiers in Iraq for four more years. - (PA)