Bush interview: Irish people who judge the United States by the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib "don't really understand America", the US President Mr George W Bush has said.
Speaking on the eve of his visit to Ireland for a US/EU summit, he said: "We are a compassionate country. We are a strong country. We'll defend ourselves. But we help people, and we helped the Irish, and we will continue to do so."
He said he could understand if Irish people disagreed with his policies in Iraq. "People don't like war. But what they should be angry about is that there is a brutal dictator there who destroyed lives and put them in mass graves and had torture rooms."
Speaking of the abuse of prisoners by US troops, he added: "I hope the Irish people understand the great values of our country, and if they think a few soldiers represents the entirety of America they don't really understand America then."
In an interview with RTÉ's Prime Time last night, Mr Bush expressed gratitude to his "friend", the Taoiseach, for the support Mr Ahern had given him in the war against terrorism.
Claiming that "most European countries" supported his policy on Iraq, Mr Bush remarked that, during his visit to Co Clare, "yes, I can turn to my friend Bertie Ahern and say 'Thank you, thanks for helping, and I appreciate it very much, and there are other challenges, by the way.'"
The US President rejected claims that the world was a more dangerous place since the invasion of Iraq.
"On September 11th, 2001, we were attacked in an unprovoked fashion. Everybody thought the world was calm, and then there have been bombings since then, not because of my response to Iraq. There were bombings in Madrid. There were bombings in Istanbul. There were bombings in Bali. There were killings in Pakistan."
Of recent US casualties in Iraq, he added: "Nobody cares more about the deaths than I do. I care about it a lot. But I do believe the world is a safer place, and becoming a safer place.
"I know that a free Iraq is going to be a necessary part of changing the world. People are joining terrorist organisations because there is no hope and no chance to raise their families in a peaceful world . . . So the idea is to promote freedom and at the same time protect our security.
"Saddam Hussein used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, against his neighbourhood. He was a brutal dictator who posed a threat, such a threat that the United Nations voted unanimously to say . . . 'Disarm or face serious consequences.'
"Guess what? He didn't disarm, he didn't disclose his arms and therefore he faced serious consequences. But we have found a capacity for him to make a weapon. He had the capacity to make weapons. He was dangerous."
In the interview, Mr Bush also spoke about his plans to advance the Middle East roadmap, as well as American's commitment to fighting famine and disease worldwide.
"There is no more generous country on the face of the earth than the United States of America when it comes to fighting HIV/AIDS," he said.
Questioned about his religious beliefs, and their impact on his policy decisions, he said: "My relationship with God is a very personal relationship, and I turn to the good Lord for strength, and I turn to the good Lord for guidance, and I turn to the Good Lord for forgiveness. But the God I know is one that promotes peace and freedom.
"I get great substance from my personal relationship. That doesn't make me think I'm a better person than you are, by the way, because one of the great admonitions in the good book is 'Don't try to take a speck out of your eye if I got a log in my own'."
