(12 Sep 2006) SHOTLIST
1. SOUNDBITE: (English) George W. Bush - US President:
"Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone. They will not leave us alone. They will follow us. The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad. Osama bin Laden calls this fight "the Third World War" - and he says that victory for the terrorists in Iraq will mean America's "defeat and disgrace forever." If we yield Iraq to men like bin Laden, our enemies will be emboldened ... they will gain a new safe haven ... and they will use Iraq's resources to fuel their extremist movement. We will not allow this to happen."
2. Black
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) George W. Bush - US President:
"Osama bin Laden and other terrorists are still in hiding, our message to them is clear: No matter how long it takes, America will find you, and we will bring you to justice."
STORYLINE:
Five years after the worst terror attack in US history, President George W. Bush said that whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq the worst thing that America could have done was to pull out of the country thinking that "the terrorists would leave us alone."
Bush, in a televised evening address from his Oval Office in the White House, staunchly defended the war in Iraq, even though he acknowledged that deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
He said Saddam's regime, while lacking weapons of mass destruction, was a clear threat.
At least 2,600 US servicemen and women have died in Iraq.
"If we yield Iraq to men like bin Laden, our enemies will be emboldened ... they will gain a new safe haven ... and they will use Iraq's resources to fuel their extremist movement," said President Bush.
The address came at the end of a day in which Bush honoured the memory of the attacks that rocked his presidency and thrust the United States into a costly and unfinished war against terror.
It was a day of mourning, remembrance and resolve. Before his address, Bush visited New York, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the Defence Department's Pentagon headquarters to place wreaths and console relatives of the victims.
Bush said that Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the attack, and other "terrorists" still were in hiding.
"No matter how long it takes, America will find you, and we will bring you to justice," said the President.
Bush said the war on terror was nothing less than "a struggle for civilisation" and must be fought to the end.
Two months before the November elections, he attempted to spell out in graphic terms the stakes he sees in the unpopular war in Iraq and the broader fight against terror.
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