Bush says Iraq invasion protected U.S. from 'madman'
by Randall Mikkelsen, Reuters
Oct. 9, 2003
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (Reuters) -- President Bush, in a new push to defend the war on Iraq in face of mounting doubts, said on Thursday he acted to protect Americans from "madman" Saddam Hussein.
"I acted because I was not about to leave the security of the American people in the hands of a madman. I was not about to stand by and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein," Bush said in speech in New Hampshire, site of the first presidential primary next year.
"I acted because I was not about to leave the security of the American people in the hands of a madman. I was not about to stand by and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein," Bush said.
Despite a failure to find alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or evidence to link Iraq with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Bush reiterated his view that Saddam possessed unconventional weapons and sponsored terror groups.
"Who could possible think that the world would be better off with Saddam Hussein still in power?" he asked, laying down a rhetorical challenge to critics of his conduct of the war.
His speech had little in the way of new arguments, but he and others in the administration were to make their case repeatedly in coming days in the face of criticism that they exaggerated the threat Iraq posed to justify the war.
Bush spoke to an audience of New Hampshire National Guard troops and reservists. Nearly 200,000 reserve soldiers are on active duty, bolstering a U.S. military stretched thin by deployments in Iraq and elsewhere around the world.
"Serving your country can bring sacrifice and uncertainty and separation," he told the troops. "I want to thank your families." Family members of some reservists have been increasingly critical of the Bush administration for long, repeatedly extended deployments.
The speech was part of an aggressive new push by the Bush administration this week to revive waning support for the U.S. occupation of Iraq. A nationally televised address about Iraq last month and a speech to the United Nations did little to answer public doubts.
Bush, whose poll ratings have declined because of concerns over Iraq and the U.S. economy, was also stepping up his re-election activity with his visit to New Hampshire, site of next year's first major presidential primary.
Aides said the visit was not a campaign trip. But his comments in Portsmouth were focused on two issues — Iraq and the economy — seen as political threats to the president 13 months before Election Day. He was to address the issues again at a second New Hampshire stop, in Manchester, on Thursday.
Democratic presidential hopefuls have assailed the president on both fronts, with U.S. troops dying almost daily amid continued instability in Iraq, and with unemployment rates stubbornly high.
Despite a failure to find alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or evidence to link Iraq with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Bush reiterated his view that Saddam possessed unconventional weapons and sponsored terror groups.
North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, in a campaign advertisement set to air in New Hampshire this week, criticized Bush for asking Congress to give "$87 billion for Iraq, with no plan in sight."
"Billion-dollar giveaways for the president's oil industry friends, like Halliburton. And no help from the allies he shut out. Is this our America?" Edwards said. "I will not give this president a blank check."
A CBS/New York Times poll last week found growing doubts about whether the Iraq war was worth the cost. Only 41 percent said it was, while 53 percent said it was not, although about half said it was worth removing Saddam from power.
New Hampshire is scheduled to kick off the presidential primary season on Jan. 27. Like his father, former President George Bush, who lost a re- election bid in 1992, the president heads into a re-election year with a soft economy following a war against Iraq that initially boosted his popularity.
in·san·i·ty n. 1 a : a deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder (as schizophrenia) and usually excluding such states as mental retardation, psychoneurosis, and various character disorders
b : a mental disorder
2 : such unsoundness of mind or lack of understanding as prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter into a particular relationship, status, or transaction or as removes one from criminal or civil responsibility
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