Bush tells Bin Laden 'America will find you'

WASHINGTON - US President George W Bush has warned al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden "America will find you," as he marked five years since the September 11 attacks with a call for American unity and a plea for support for the Iraq war.

"Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone," Bush said in an Oval Office address that came amid an election-year debate over whether America is safer five years after 9/11.

"The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad," he said.

Criticized by some Democrats for not getting bin Laden when there was a chance in late 2001, Bush renewed his pledge to track down the elusive spiritual leader of al Qaeda.

"Osama bin Laden and other terrorists are still in hiding. Our message to them is clear: No matter how long it takes, America will find you, and we will bring you to justice," he said.

Bush spoke a day after The Washington Post reported that the search for bin Laden, believed hiding in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, had gone "stone cold" with no credible leads in more than two years.

The September 11 crisis brought Americans together in remarkable political harmony behind their untested president, but many parted ways with him when the Iraq war turned out to be far more costly in blood and money than forecast.

Today, Bush's job approval ratings have only barely climbed out of a deep trough and he is fighting to keep his Republicans from being ousted in November elections in which Democrats see their best opportunity in years to take control of one or both chambers of the US Congress.

Bush said the war on terrorism was only in its "early hours" and described it as a "struggle for civilization."

"Our nation has endured trials - and we face a difficult road ahead," Bush said. "Winning this war will require the determined efforts of a unified country. So we must put aside our differences, and work together to meet the test that history has given us."

His argument for staying in Iraq amounted to the same theme he has been using on the campaign trail, that it would be wrong to give in to the temptation to pull out of Iraq before the government in Baghdad is stable, which many American increasingly see as a fleeting prospect.

Democrats see the Iraq war as a distraction from the war on terrorism. Some would like a phased redeployment of US troops from Iraq by year's end, forcing Bush to make his case to Americans weary of the war that the troops must stay.

"If we yield Iraq to men like bin Laden, our enemies will be emboldened. They will gain a new safe haven, and they will use Iraq's resources to fuel their extremist movement. We will not allow this to happen.

"America will stay in the fight," he said.

Other politicians were also calling for unity.

"We must protect and save the American people, because right now we are not fully safe and we are not fully healed," said the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi. "So it is important for us to continue to come together, for that healing."

While Pelosi and fellow Democrats are arguing for more resources devoted to protecting American airports, borders and ports, Bush said "we have tightened security" at those places.

- REUTERS