- CORONADO, Calif. -- President
Bush answered growing antiwar protests yesterday with a fresh reason for
US troops to continue fighting in Iraq: protection of the country's vast
oil fields, which he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist
extremists.
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- The president, standing against a backdrop of the USS
Ronald Reagan, the newest aircraft carrier in the Navy's fleet, said terrorists
would be denied their goal of making Iraq a base from which to recruit
followers, train them, and finance attacks.
- ''We will defeat the terrorists," Bush said. ''We
will build a free Iraq that will fight terrorists instead of giving them
aid and sanctuary."
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- Appearing at Naval Air Station North Island to commemorate
the anniversary of the Allies' World War II victory over Japan, Bush compared
his resolve to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's in the 1940s and said
America's mission in Iraq is to turn it into a democratic ally just as
the United States did with Japan after its 1945 surrender. Bush's V-J Day
ceremony did not fall on the actual anniversary. Japan announced its surrender
on Aug. 15, 1945 -- Aug. 14 in the United States because of the time difference.
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- Democrats said Bush's leadership falls far short of Roosevelt's.
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- ''Democratic Presidents Roosevelt and Truman led America
to victory in World War II because they laid out a clear plan for success
to the American people, America's allies, and America's troops," said
Howard Dean, Democratic Party chairman.
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- ''President Bush has failed to put together a plan, so
despite the bravery and sacrifice of our troops, we are not making the
progress that we should be in Iraq. The troops, our allies, and the American
people deserve better leadership from our commander in chief."
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- The speech was Bush's third in just over a week defending
his Iraq policies, as the White House scrambles to counter growing public
concern about the war. But the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina
in the Gulf Coast drew attention away; the White House announced during
the president's remarks that he was cutting his August vacation short to
return to Washington, D.C., to oversee the federal response effort.
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- After the speech, Bush hurried back to Texas ahead of
schedule to prepare to fly back to the nation's capital today. He was to
return to the White House on Friday, after spending more than four weeks
operating from his ranch in Crawford.
- Bush's August break has been marked by problems in Iraq.
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- It has been an especially deadly month there for US troops,
with the number of those who have died since the invasion of Iraq in March
2003 now nearing 1,900.
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- The growing death toll has become a regular feature of
the slightly larger protests that Bush now encounters everywhere he goes
-- a movement boosted by a vigil set up in a field down the road from the
president's ranch by a mother grieving the loss of her soldier son in Iraq.
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- Cindy Sheehan arrived in Crawford only days after Bush
did, asking for a meeting so he could explain why her son and others are
dying in Iraq. The White House refused, and Sheehan's camp turned into
a hub of activity for hundreds of activists around the country demanding
that troops be brought home.
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- This week, the administration also had to defend the
proposed constitution produced in Iraq at US urging. Critics fear the impact
of its rejection by many Sunnis, and say it fails to protect religious
freedom and women's rights.
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- At the naval base, Bush declared, ''We will not rest
until victory is America's and our freedom is secure" from Al Qaeda
and its forces in Iraq led by Abu Musab alZarqawi.
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- ''If Zarqawi and [Osama] bin Laden gain control of Iraq,
they would create a new training ground for future terrorist attacks,"
Bush said. ''They'd seize oil fields to fund their ambitions. They could
recruit more terrorists by claiming a historic victory over the United
States and our coalition."
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- © Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.
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