New al-Qaida threats will not deter United States, Bush says
Iraq-USA, Politics, 8/5/2005

US President George W. Bush said threats from al-Qaida will not deter the United States from its mission to help the Iraqi people develop a democracy, but they do show the terrorists' desire to "impose their dark vision on the world."

Speaking August 4 in Crawford, Texas, with visiting Colombia President Alvaro Uribe, Bush said Iraqis "want to live in a free society," which al-Qaida is opposed to. "And that's the clash of ideologies -- freedom versus tyranny," he said.

In a videotape released earlier August 4, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's second-in-command leader, threatened more terrorist attacks against London and against U.S. forces in Iraq unless they withdraw from that country.

"The comments by the number two man of al-Qaida make it clear that Iraq is a part of this war on terror, and we're at war," Bush said, describing the organization headed by Osama bin Laden as "terrorists" and "killers" who "will kill innocent people trying to get us to withdraw from the world, so they can impose their dark vision on the world."

Following the organization's September 11, 2001, attack upon New York and Washington, "I vowed then that we would stay on the offense against these people," the president said. "We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. And the job is this: We'll help the Iraqis develop a democracy."

Zawahiri and others like him "have an ideology that is dark, dim, [and] backwards," Bush said. "[T]hey don't appreciate women; if you don't agree to their narrow view of a religion you'll be whipped in the public square. That's their view, and they have tactics to help spread that view."

Bush said U.S. troops will return home from Iraq "as soon as possible," meaning when Iraqi security forces that are being trained are prepared to fight. "As Iraq stands up, our coalition will stand down," he said.

Previous Stories:
  21 US soldiers were killed as Bush vows to stay in Iraq   (8/4/2005)
  American, Iraqi ambassadors discuss transfer of authority   (8/3/2005)
  US: Iraqi insurgents have money for indefinite violence   (7/29/2005)

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