The US would wage war again, and alone if necessary, to ensure the long-term safety of the world, President George W. Bush said in an interview published yesterday.
Bush told Britain's leading tabloid newspaper, the Sun, on the eve of a state visit that he felt compelled to act following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
"I was at Ground Zero after the attacks," he said. "I remember this haze and the smells and the death and destruction. I'll always remember that.
"I made up my mind right then. We were at war and we were going to win the war. And I still feel that determination today."
The paper quoted Bush as saying US forces and their coalition allies had ended the tyranny of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, smashed the grip of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan and forced the UN to stop turning its back on terror.
The mass-selling Sun newspaper, best known for its semi-naked Page Three girls, is owned by tycoon Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, the most influential media empire in Britain.
Bush's choice to grant it an interview raised eyebrows among American journalists, who questioned its suitability for a president who has publicly embraced evangelical Protestantism.
"After coming to office with a vow to restore dignity to the White House, the president ... granted an exclusive interview to a British tabloid that features daily photographs of nude women," The Washington Post said in an article on its Web site.
Bush, unpopular in Britain following the US-led war on Iraq, arrives today for a visit that includes meetings with Queen Elizabeth and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his closest wartime ally.
In another interview with a British newspaper, influential Pentagon adviser Richard Perle echoed Bush's comments, saying the possibility of future conflicts could not be ruled out.
"Of course he [Bush] is going to stick with that principle, because it is fundamental to fighting and winning the war against terror," Perle, one of the architects of the US invasion of Iraq, told the Daily Telegraph.
"So, does this entail a risk we will find ourselves in conflict ... with other governments? Sure, it does."
Blair's ratings have plunged since the Iraq war and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction but Bush said the decision to go to war should not be judged on short-term results.
"I set big goals," he said. "I know what we're doing is going to have a positive effect on this world."
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS