Bush to declare end to Iraq combat from carrier

11.45am

Aboard Uss Abraham Lincoln - From the deck of a US aircraft carrier off the California coast, President George W. Bush will say today that major combat operations in Iraq have ended but there is still "difficult work" ahead.

In a 9pm EDT (1.00pm NZT) speech to the nation from the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is steaming home with its crew of more than 5,000 from the longest deployment in three decades, Bush will call the six-week war "a crucial advance" in the campaign against terrorism.

"Tonight, President Bush will announce to the nation that major combat operations in Iraq have ended and our coalition is now engaged in securing and reconstructing that country," the White House said.

Bush, who made a dramatic landing on the Lincoln's deck after taking the controls of the small jet for part of the flight from San Diego, will caution Americans the United States is still pursuing key objectives in Iraq.

"We have difficult work to do. ... The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done," he said in excerpts released by the White House.

Over the objections of many nations, Washington launched the war on Iraq on March 20 because of its alleged weapons of mass destruction, but so far it has found none.

On a second US war front, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Kabul today that most of Afghanistan was now secure and US-led forces had moved from major combat operations to a period of stabilisation and reconstruction.

More than 7,000 US troops -- part of an international force of more than 12,000 -- remain in Afghanistan 18 months after a US-led bombing campaign helped drive the fundamentalist Taleban from power. The Taleban had been sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Bush's arrival on the aircraft carrier provided the White House with some powerful political pictures for his re-election campaign next year.

In San Diego, he exchanged his Air Force One jumbo jet for a small plane dubbed Navy 1 for a short hop that ended in a cable-assisted landing on the Lincoln's deck.

Wearing a flight suit and sitting beside the pilot in the four-seater S-3B, called a "Viking," Bush experienced the stomach-churning jolt of an arrested landing when the plane's tailhook caught a cable stretched across the deck.

He emerged with a swagger and a broad smile, tucked his helmet under his arm and mingled with F-18 pilots and sailors on the flight deck.

"Yes, I flew it," Bush told reporters who asked if the former pilot in the Texas Air National Guard had taken the controls. "Of course I liked it."

Such landings are routine aboard carriers and not regarded as particularly risky. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush "wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe."

In his 15-minute speech, Bush was to stop short of a formal declaration of victory, as the administration seeks hard evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and sporadic resistance continues.

His address will not be a formal end to hostilities. Under international law, that would trigger the release of Iraqi prisoners of war and bar US forces from trying to kill deposed President Saddam Hussein if he is still alive.

But it sets the stage for the US-led operations in Iraq to focus on reconstruction. Among the key objectives yet to be achieved, Bush will list "finding leaders of the old regime ... the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons" and rebuilding the country.

Bush, who relishes his role as commander in chief, was in his element. Wearing a helmet with large ear protectors and goggles, he roamed the flight deck, chatting, shaking hands and posing for photographs.

From the navigation deck, he watched the carrier offload its airwing and a dozen F-18s fly in diamond formation over the ship on their way to San Diego. Whistling to attract reporters' attention, he leaned over the railing to tell them he had flown Navy 1 about a third of the way. "Just steered straight," he said, pronouncing the experience "really exciting."

From the Lincoln, where a massive banner strung across the superstructure proclaimed "Mission Accomplished," military personnel launched 16,500 sorties against Iraq as well as Afghanistan. Planes flying from the carrier dropped 1.2 million pounds of ordnance on Iraq.

Bush was to spend the night on board in the stateroom used by the captain when the carrier is in port. By the time he departs on Friday morning, he will be within Marine One helicopter range of shore.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq