USA: President Bush reiterates vow to find Osama Bin Laden on fifth anniversary of 9/11 attacks

President George W. Bush vowed on Monday (September 11) to Osama bin Laden "America will find you," as he marked five years since the Sept. 11 attacks with a call for American unity and a plea for support for the Iraq war. "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," Bush said in an Oval Office address that came amid an election-year debate over the Iraq war and whether America is safer five years after 9/11. Criticized by some Democrats for not getting bin Laden when there was a chance in late 2001, Bush renewed his pledge to track down the elusive spiritual leader of al Qaeda. "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'," he said. Bush spoke a day after The Washington Post reported that the search for bin Laden, believed hiding in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, had gone "stone cold" with no credible leads in more than two years. The Sept. 11 crisis brought Americans together in remarkable political harmony behind their untested president, but many parted ways with him when the Iraq war turned out to be far more costly in blood and money than forecast. Today, Bush's job approval ratings have barely climbed out of a deep trough and he is fighting to keep his Republicans from being ousted in November elections. Democrats see their best opportunity in years to take control of one or both chambers of the U.S. Congress. Bush said the war on terrorism was still early. His argument for staying in Iraq amounted to the same theme he has been using on the campaign trail, that it would be wrong to give in to the temptation to pull out of Iraq before the government in Baghdad is stable, which many American increasingly see as a fleeting prospect. Democrats see the Iraq war as a distraction from the struggle against terrorism. Some would like a phased redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq by year's end, forcing Bush to make his case to Americans weary of the war.

ITN Source | September 12, 2006

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