- WASHINGTON -- US President
George W. Bush said on Tuesday he will campaign for re-election next year
by arguing that "the world is more peaceful and more free under my
leadership".
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- But, even as he did so, he conceded that "Iraq's
a dangerous place" and shuffled back from his triumphant declaration
on board the USS Abraham Lincoln seven months ago that America had achieved
its mission in the Gulf.
-
- On May 1, Mr Bush landed on the returning aircraft carrier
and announced the end of major combat operations, beneath a banner reading
"Mission Accomplished".
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- With 114 soldiers killed since the ending of combat in
Iraq - one fewer than during the war - Mr Bush on Tuesday sought to dispel
criticism of a premature claim of success, saying the banner was put up
by members of the ship's crew.
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- Mr Bush's comments came in a rare press conference, where
he sought to relay his determination to "stay the course" in
Iraq.
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- Loyalists of Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime and foreign
terrorists are trying to "cause people to run", Mr Bush said,
but "we will not be intimidated".
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- Mr Bush who sometimes appeared harried as he responded
to critical questioning, said: "I can't put it any more plainly: Iraq
is a dangerous place." He repeated the assertion 13 times, and declined
to say whether the numbers of US troops in Iraq will have been reduced
by the presidential elections next November.
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- Mr Bush also gave the first public outline of his re-election
platform. "I will defend my record at the appropriate time and look
forward to it," he said.
-
- Norm Ornstein, a political analyst at American Enterprise
Institute, said the press conference was a measure of the political pressure
on the Bush White House.
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- © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2003.
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