- (Reuters) -- Casting himself and British Prime Minister
Tony Blair as the spiritual heirs of Winston Churchill, US President George
Bush has defended their decision to go to war against Iraq.
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- Bush called the Iraq war pivotal to his vision of a democratic
transformation in the Middle East and compared it with the challenges Churchill
faced in World War 2 and the early stages of the Cold War.
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- "In some ways, our current struggles or challenges
are similar to those Churchill knew," Bush said in a speech at a Library
of Congress exhibit honouring Britain's famous war-time prime minister.
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- "We are the heirs of the tradition of liberty, defenders
of the freedom, the conscience and the dignity of every person."
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- Bush and Blair both said this week they would launch
inquiries into inaccurate prewar intelligence on Iraqi weapons programmes
after the failure to find any stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction
after the war.
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- Accusations that deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and programmes to develop
nuclear weapons were at the heart of Bush and Blair's case for taking their
countries to war in Iraq.
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- Today's challenge was the Middle East, where "the
stakes could not be higher", Bush said. "When the leaders of
reform ask for our help, America will give it."
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- Referring to Iraq, Bush said, "because we acted,
nations of the Middle East no longer need to fear reckless aggression from
a ruthless dictator who had the intent and capability to inflict great
harm on his people and people around the world."
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- Bush frequently refers to Churchill as a hero and on
Wednesday he called him "a rallying voice of the Second World War,
and a prophet of the Cold War".
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- "I keep a stern-looking bust of Sir Winston in the
Oval Office," Bush said. "He watches my every move."
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- Bush also cast Blair - who faces domestic criticisms
over his staunch support for the US-led war on Iraq - in Churchill's image.
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- "I see the spirit of Churchill in Prime Minister
Tony Blair," Bush said.
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- Bush and Blair have both been heavily criticised over
the failure to find any unconventional weapons in Iraq.
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- David Kay, the former chief US weapons hunter in Iraq,
said in congressional testimony last week that he had found no evidence
of stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons and that prewar intelligence
was almost all wrong.
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- US soldiers are dying at a rate of nearly one a day in
Iraq, and Washington's plans for a transition of power to Iraqis have run
into strong opposition from Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's most influential
Shi'ite Muslim cleric.
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- But Bush said the United States would not be swayed by
the difficulties. "We will do what it takes. We will not leave until
the job is done."
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- ©2004 The Cape Argus. All rights reserved.
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- http://capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=342132
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