Bush tells world Iraq differences are in the past

11.45am

WASHINGTON - On the anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, United States President George Bush has told officials from 83 nations that differences over the conflict were in the past and urged no retreat from the broader war on terrorism.

"No concession will appease their hatred," Bush said of al Qaeda and its supporters. "No accommodation will satisfy their endless demands. Their ultimate ambitions are to control the peoples of the Middle East and to blackmail the rest of the world with weapons of mass terror."

Bush devoted much of a speech marking the anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq to the fight against terrorism. Many governments resist linking the two since there was no evidence connecting Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda, and Iraq only became a magnet for foreign fighters after Saddam was toppled.

In the audience in the White House East Room were ambassadors or other ranking diplomats from 83 nations, including Iraq war opponents France, Germany, Canada and Russia.

"There have been disagreements in this matter among old and valued friends," Bush said. "Those differences belong to the past. All of us can now agree that the fall of the Iraqi dictator has removed a source of violence, aggression and instability in the Middle East," he said.

Afterward, Bush and his wife, Laura, visited soldiers wounded in Iraq at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington.

Bush was trying to restore the widespread global support that existed in the war on terrorism before the Iraq conflict that produced a bitter international divide.

He was clearly speaking to the situation in Spain, where suspected al Qaeda bombings on March 11 in Madrid killed 202 people and were believed to have been a factor in Spanish voters throwing out a pro-US government in favor of Socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Zapatero has called the Iraq war a disaster and pledges to withdraw his country's 1,300 troops from Iraq if the country is not placed under UN control.

Bush has also been urging Poland not to pull out troops after Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said authorities had been misled about weapons of mass destruction.

'DEEPER RESOLVE'

"Any sign of weakness or retreat simply validates terrorist violence and invites more violence for all nations. The only certain way to protect our people is by united and decisive action," Bush said.

Bush said each attack was intended to "demoralise our people and divide us from one another" and that each attack must be met with "greater determination, deeper resolve and bolder action against the killers."

Bush was speaking a year after he ordered US forces to enter Iraq to overthrow Saddam. Early promises the war would be swift and the Americans would be welcomed as liberators have proved to be wrong.

Now US forces, with over 500 already dead, face a prolonged stay and an increasingly violent guerrilla insurgency. The weapons of mass destruction on which Bush based the war have never been found.

Bush's opponent in the November presidential election, Democrat John Kerry, accused Bush on Friday of misleading Americans about the extent of Saddam's weapons programs and the cost.

"Simply put, this president didn't tell the truth about the war from the beginning. And our country is paying the price," he said.

Sandy Berger, a Kerry foreign policy adviser and former national security adviser to Democratic President Bill Clinton, called the Iraq war a blunder.

"It took our focus off of al Qaeda, it became a rallying point for Jihadists in Iraq and elsewhere and we have been losing allies rather than gaining them, and it may very well take a new president to fashion a new equation with our allies in Europe and elsewhere," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, blasts echoed across central Baghdad and warning sirens sounded in the headquarters of the US-led administration overnight.

At least two blasts followed the sound of mortars or rockets being fired. A US military spokesman said he had no immediate information on casualties or damage.

As part of the anniversary of the war's beginning, US Secretary of State Colin Powell had spent several hours in the headquarters compound earlier on Friday before leaving for Saudi Arabia.

The compound, which is known as the "Green Zone" and is one of Saddam Hussein's former palace complexes, has been targeted repeatedly by guerrillas firing rockets and mortars.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq