With US-led troops yet to locate banned Iraqi arms, President George W. Bush admitted today that the hunt for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction is far from over.
"It's going to take time to find them. But we know he had them, and whether he destroyed them, moved them or hid them, we're going to find out the truth," Mr Bush said.
"And one thing is for certain: Saddam Hussein no longer threatens America with weapons of mass destruction," he told cheering supporters during a day-long trip to drum up support for his embattled tax-cut plan.
Mr Bush, who used Saddam's alleged possession of banned weapons to justify the war, said that while the bulk of the fighting is over "the mission is not complete. Our forces still face danger in Iraq.
"Work is not done. There are still dangers and challenges to remain. But one thing is certain: Saddam Hussein is no longer in power," he said.
"We're not going to lose our focus. We're going to press on until the mission is complete," said Mr Bush, who cited growing cooperation from Iraqis "with first-hand knowledge" of chemical or biological arms programs.
"That's important because the regime of Saddam Hussein spent years hiding and disguising his weapons. He tried to fool the United Nations and did for 12 years by hiding these weapons," said the US leader.
Washington has opposed the return of UN disarmament inspectors, saying that its own forces and those of its allies in Iraq have replaced the UN's experts in the search for weapons of mass destruction.
AFP