GREEN BAY, Aug 10: President George Bush said on Thursday that the foiled London bomb plot shows the United States is still ‘at war with Islamic fascists’ five years after the Sept 11 attacks.

The conspiracy is ‘a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation’, he said in hastily arranged remarks during a visit here.

Mr Bush, who discussed the plot with British Prime Minister Tony Blair by teleconference on Sunday, praised London’s ‘good work in busting this plot’ and said US-British ‘cooperation on this venture was excellent’.

The embattled president also defended his record on terrorism amid fears in his Republican party that his handling of the unpopular war in Iraq, which has dragged down his approval ratings, may hurt them in November 7 congressional elections.

“This country is safer than it was prior to 9/11. We’ve taken a lot of measures to protect the American people. But obviously we still aren’t completely safe, because there are people that still plot and people who want to harm us for what we believe in,” Bush said.

“It is a mistake to believe there is no threat to the United States of America, and that is why we’ve given our officials the tools they need to protect our people,” he said.

Mr Bush also had a message for airline travelers, who he warned “are going to be inconvenienced as a result of the steps we’ve taken. I urge their patience and ask them to be vigilant.”

“The inconvenience occurs because we will take the steps necessary to protect the American people,” he said.

“The American people need to know we live in a dangerous world, but our government will do everything we can to protect our people from those dangers,” said Mr Bush.—AFP