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Bush vows "victory" in Iraq

Democrats ask the President to spell out his optimism in detail

ANNAPOLIS (Maryland): U.S. President George W. Bush vowed on Wednesday to settle for nothing less than ``complete victory'' in Iraq which he defined as a secure country free of ``terrorists'' who could threaten the United States.

Mr. Bush made his pledge in a major speech at the U.S. Naval Academy here where he stressed the global fight against terrorism in defending the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq.

``I will settle for nothing less than complete victory,'' he said. ``Victory will come when the terrorists and Saddamists [followers of Saddam Hussein] can no longer threaten Iraq's democracy.''

He said the mission would be accomplished ``when the Iraqi security forces can provide for the safety of their own citizens, and when Iraq cannot [be] a safe haven for terrorists to plot new attacks on our nation.''

Mr. Bush said the U.S. troop levels would depend on conditions there, not on ``artificial timetables set by politicians in Washington. America will not run in the face of car-bombers and assassins so long as I am your commander in chief,'' he told a friendly audience at the US Naval Academy here.

The remarks came as public opinion polls found his approval ratings sunk at the lowest level of his presidency, with growing numbers looking for him to chart a course for a swift withdrawal of troops from war-torn Iraq.

Call for timetable

Opposition Democrats have stepped up their calls for the President to spell out in detail how he hopes to achieve victory in Iraq, and some have called for precise timetables for progress, including a drawdown in forces.

``Some are calling for a deadline for withdrawal. Many advocating an artificial timetable for withdrawing our troops are sincere. But I believe they're sincerely wrong,'' said Mr. Bush.

``Pulling our troops out before they've achieved their purpose is not a plan for victory,'' he said. — AFP

AP reports from Baghdad:

U.S. and Iraqi troops in western Iraq have launched an operation to clear militants from a suspected safe area they use to manufacture car bombs, a military statement said Wednesday.

After a month long hiatus in the kidnapping of foreigners, television footage on Tuesday once again showed Westerners held captive: A German archaeologist — bound and blindfolded — knelt among masked gunmen in one video and four frightened peace activists were shown in another blurry tape.

The latest attacks are part of a new wave of kidnappings police fear is aimed at disrupting next month's national elections.

Christian Peacemaker Teams, a group that has had activists in Iraq since October 2002, said it was saddened by the video of their workers, who the statement said were working against the occupation of Iraq.

The group listed the names of those abducted as Tom Fox (54) of Clearbrook, Virginia; Norman Kember (74) of London; James Loney (41) of Toronto, Canada; and Harmeet Singh Sooden (32) of Canada.

On Tuesday, Al-Jazeera broadcast video of the four men held by a previously unknown group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. The group claimed they were spies working under the cover of Christian peace activists.

Mr. Loney, a community worker, was leading the Christian group's delegation in Iraq. German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed that her Government will ``not let ourselves be blackmailed'' by those who kidnapped a German archaeologist in Iraq.

Raids in Brussels

Authorities on Wednesday detained 14 suspects during dawn raids aimed at dismantling a terrorist network that was sending volunteers to Iraq, including a Belgian female suicide bomber who struck in the Baghdad area three weeks ago, reports from Belgium said.

In France, police in the Paris region arrested on Wednesday a 27-year-old Tunisian man suspected of having contacts with the Belgian cell, judicial officials said.

Belgian authorities ``want to dismantle this network, of which we knew it was on our territory and which aimed to send volunteers for the jihad to the battlefield,'' Belgian police, told reporters.

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