US: Capitalising on the triumph of US forces in capturing Saddam Hussein, President Bush reiterated yesterday his doctrine of dealing with "emerging threats" around the world as a way of making America more secure.Mr Bush linked the ousting of Saddam with the post 9/11 drive to make the US more secure from terrorist attack.
Iraq was a battle in the war on terror fought on many fronts, some like Iraq and Afghanistan more visible fronts than others, he told a press conference in Washington.
Mr Bush bristled when asked if finding Saddam provided an opportunity to get more foreign troops involved in Iraq. "I want to remind you we've got over 60 nations involved now," he said.
The US was constantly reaching out to get more involved as a "peaceful country in the heart of the Middle East is in the interest of all nations".
The intervention in Iraq was "a transforming event" that would make it more likely that the world was peaceful, and he had "reached out" to Iraq war critics, France and Germany.
They disagreed on Iraq but had co-operated on Iran, and Germany had committed troops to Afghanistan, he said.
"I obviously felt like September 11th changed the equation to the point where we needed to deal with emerging threats in a way that would make America more secure," the President said, enunciating the doctrine of pre-emptive strikes.
"I will never forget the lessons of September the 11th, 2001. Terrorists attacked us. They killed thousands of our fellow citizens. And it could happen again. And, therefore, I will deal with threats - threats that are emerging and real." By "reaching out" to France and Germany, Mr Bush went on to explain, he meant asking them to help forgive Iraq's $40 billion debt. He brusquely dismissed a suggestion that excluding countries like France, Germany, Russia, Canada and China from US reconstruction contracts might not be helpful in generating international support.
"I think you're talking about one or two countries, if I'm not mistaken," he said. "And we're reaching out to them, and we want them to participate. But the idea of spending taxpayers' money on contracts to firms that did not participate in the initial thrust is just something I wasn't going to do. And you know what? The American taxpayers understand that."
Mr Bush brushed aside speculation that Saddam might shed light on the failure to find weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorist groups, the main US reasons for toppling the dictator.
Saddam was a "deceiver and a liar" and he would be very sceptical of anything he said, Mr Bush replied. He claimed that the US weapons inspector Mr David Kay "has reported back that he (Saddam) had weapons programmes that would have put him in material breach" of UN Resolution 1441.
On other issues, Mr Bush dismissed as "an absurd insinuation" speculation aired by Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean that Mr Bush had advance knowledge of 9/11.
He also said that the administration was firmly against a "blanket amnesty" for undocumented immigrants.