Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Bush, Democrats spar on security

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 20, 2006

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday that his administration's determination to remain in Iraq and its efforts to end violence in Lebanon are key to protecting the United States from terrorist attacks. Democrats countered that Americans would be safer if the nation began a phased pullout of U.S. forces from Iraq.

"It is no coincidence that two nations that are building free societies in the heart of the Middle East - Lebanon and Iraq - are also the scenes of the most violent terrorist activity," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "We will defeat the terrorists by strengthening young democracies across the broader Middle East."

He acknowledged that "the way forward will be difficult." But, he said, "America's security depends on liberty's advance in this troubled region."

Democrats chose Joe Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral who is challenging Republican Rep. Curt Weldon for a Pennsylvania House seat, to deliver their party's response to the president.

Sestak argued for "a new direction for America's security," and said it is time for the U.S. mission in Iraq to end. "We must begin a phased redeployment of our forces so that we are prepared to face the security challenges we have worldwide," he said.

The nation's safety looms as a key issue in the midterm elections Nov. 7, particularly after recent news of a foiled plot in Britain to blow up jetliners over the Atlantic.

Democrats have been increasingly vocal about what they say is the lack of a plan for success in Iraq and the need for a timetable for bringing U.S. forces home.

Sestak said ending the U.S. presence in Iraq would free up money and energy to concentrate on other areas, such as nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran and homeland security protections. Two days of spending in Iraq would pay for screening all air cargo on passenger planes, while five days of Iraq costs would fund the screening of all cargo coming into the nation's ports, he said.

"We are fostering a culture of dependence in Iraq," Sestak said. "Iraqi leaders must be responsible for their own country. They must make the difficult political compromises that will stop the civil war and bring about stability. Completing our mission in Iraq will also make America safer everywhere."

Bush said his approach is working.

"We will defeat the terrorists and expand freedom across the world, we'll protect the American homeland and work tirelessly to prevent attacks on our country," he said. "The terrorists remain determined to destroy innocent life on a massive scale, and we must be equally determined to stop them."

[Last modified August 20, 2006, 01:33:13]