Bush:Iraq withdrawal may spark 9/11 repeat' (Is preventing a new 9/11 the only basis of this Adm.? [View All]

Bush: 'Iraq withdrawal may spark 9/11 repeat'

By Toby Harnden in Washington and Damien McElroy
Last Updated: 2:36am GMT 20/03/2007


President George W Bush used the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war yesterday to warn that US withdrawal would unleash a "contagion of violence" that could spark a repeat of the September 11 attacks.

A street scene in Baghdad with US soldiers in background, Iraq withdrawal may spark 9/11 repeat
Two Iraqi youngsters play with a ball near to US soldiers in conversation with residents in Baghdad

Although he conceded that there would be "bad days ahead", he insisted that there had been "good progress" in Iraq and there were "hopeful signs" that the influx of 30,000 additional troops would stabilise Baghdad.

The bullish self-confidence of 2003 was absent as he said only that the war could be won rather than portraying victory as inevitable. "Four years after this war began, the fight is difficult, but it can be won."

He delivered a tough message to Democrats, who now control Congress, that he would veto any bill that did not provide "the funds and the flexibility that our troops need to accomplish their mission".Democratic proposals for deadlines for troop withdrawals, he claimed, could be "devastating" for US security and could help al-Qa'eda plan attacks against the US on a scale not seen since September 11.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/20/wirq20.xml


(03-13) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Vice President Dick Cheney, lashing out at Democrats for the first time since the felony conviction of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, his former top deputy, resumed his controversial claims Monday that the war in Iraq is the central front in the worldwide U.S. response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/03/13/MNG7UOK2D61.DTL&type=printable