TOBYHANNA, Pa. (AP) - President Bush fires back at critics of the war in Iraq and says "it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began." In a Veterans Day speech, Bush offered a forceful defense of the war in Iraq, saying it is the central front in the war on terror and that extremists are trying to establish a radical Muslim empire extending from Spain to Indonesia.
"We will never back down. We will never give in. We will never accept anything less than complete victory," Bush said Friday.
The speech in Monroe County was billed by the White House as a focused counter-attack on critics who say the administration twisted pre-war intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq. Bush made reference to criticism from members of Congress and chided Senators who supported his decision to go to war, including his 2004 Democratic rival for president, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.).
Bush said the United States and its allies are determined to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of extremists and prevent them from gaining control of any country.
The president's remarks at the Tobyhanna Army Depot were part of the administration's effort to bolster waning U.S. public support for the war in which at least 2,059 U.S. troops have died.
Bush singled out Syria for particular criticism, saying its government had taken "two disturbing steps" in recent days. He cited the arrest of Syria pro-democracy activist Kamal Labwani and a "strident speech" by President Bashar Assad. In that speech, Assad said his government would cooperate with a U.N. investigation that implicated Syrian officials in the killing of a Lebanese leader, but warned he would no longer "play their game" if Syria "is going to be harmed."
Bush said Syria "must stop exporting violence and start importing democracy."
