US President George W. Bush vowed during a rare press conference on Tuesday to finish the fight in Iraq and defended his administration's handling of terrorist threats prior to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The upsurge of violence in Iraq and persistent questions about the White House's response to intelligence warnings of terrorist designs on US soil have contributed to a downward slide in his approval ratings, seven months ahead of the presidential elections.
Bush acknowledged that US troops have faced "tough weeks" in Iraq, but said he is prepared to send more troops if necessary to complete the mission.
"We will finish the work of the fallen," he said.
In fighting growing insurgencies, more than 80 US soldiers have been killed and nearly 600 wounded this month in Iraq -- the highest casualty toll for such a short period since Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled a year ago.
But Bush made it clear that the US military will have the manpower and resources necessary to prevail and will use decisive force to maintain order.
"If additional forces are needed, I will send them," he said. "If additional resources are needed, we will provide them."
Bush's presumptive Democratic challenger in the November election, US Senator John Kerry, has accused the White House of failing to produce a coherent strategy for post-war Iraq. Opposition critics say that the conflict has turned into Bush's Vietnam, a charge the president flatly rejected.
"I think the analogy is false," he said. "I also happen to think that analogy sends the wrong message to our troops and sends the wrong message to the enemy."
Bush blamed the bloodshed on groups trying to thwart Iraqi desires for peace and democracy: remnants of Saddam's regime, foreign terrorists and insurgents under the control of militant Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"The violence we have seen is a power grab by these extreme and ruthless elements," Bush said. "It's not a civil war. It's not a popular uprising."
Despite the fighting, Bush stuck by the June 30 deadline for transferring sovereignty, warning that a delay would only embolden the insurgency and anger Iraqis.
"Many Iraqis would question our intentions and feel their hopes betrayed," Bush said in only his third primetime press conference.
"Those in Iraq that trade in hatred and conspiracy theories would find a larger audience and gain a stronger hand," he said.
Bush, who has been under fire for his handling of the al-Qaeda threat in 2001 during the first eight months of his term, said the Sept. 11 attacks showed that a "gathering threat" must be confronted.
A congressional commission has been investigating failures by the government under both Bush and former US president Bill Clinton to piece together intelligence that indicated an attack was imminent. Bush said that the US was not on a "war footing" prior to Sept. 11.
"I mean, hindsight's easy," Bush said. "It's easy for a president to stand up and say, now that I know what happened, it would have been nice if there were certain things in place."
Bush did not take personal responsibility for Sept. 11 or apologize to the families of the 3,000 people who died, as his former counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke did during emotional testimony last month before the commission.
Clarke accused Bush of neglecting the terrorist threat in favor of other foreign policy priorities, and believes the focus on Iraq after Sept. 11 distracted from the effort to defeat Osama bin Laden's network.
Bush promised to stay on the offensive in the war on terrorism and warned that terrorists would not relent in their determination to again attack within US borders.
"In order to secure the country, we must do everything in our power to find these killers and bring them to justice before they hurt us again," Bush said. "I'm afraid they want to hurt us again."
Despite the rocky recent weeks for Bush, he remained confident when asked by a reporter whether the war in Iraq, which he says is a central front in the war on terrorism, was worth the political risk of defeat in November's election.
"I don't plan on losing my job," Bush said. "I plan on telling the American people that I've got a plan to win the war on terror, and I believe they'll stay with me."
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