WASHINGTON, July 5: US President George Bush declared on Saturday that the US mission in the world was “broader” than just fighting terrorism and ending the rule of dictators like Saddam Hussein.
Ahead of his first official visit to Africa and marking the US Independence Day holiday weekend, Mr Bush said the US Declaration of Independence made 227 years ago “holds a promise for all mankind”.
“Without America’s active involvement in the world, the ambitions of tyrants would go unopposed, and millions would live at the mercy of terrorists,” Mr Bush said in his weekly radio address.
“With America’s active involvement in the world, tyrants have learned to fear, and terrorists are on the run.
“This nation is acting to defend our security, yet our mission in the world is broader,” the US president said.
“We work for human dignity in every land. We protect our friends and raise up former enemies to be our friends.
“We bring food and disaster relief to the nations of the world in times of crisis. And in Africa, where I will go next week, the United States of America is leading the effort to fight AIDS and save millions of lives with the healing power of medicine.
“Just as our enemies are going to know the strong will of America, people across this Earth are seeing the good and generous heart of America,” he insisted.
HITS BACK AT ‘SCEPTICS’: President Bush hit back at “sceptics” of US policy in Iraq, while admitting that it would take time to get the country on its feet after the downfall of Saddam Hussein.
“The Iraqi people are going to benefit mightily from the actions of the United States and a lot of other nations, because they’ll be free,” Mr Bush told CNN television in an interview when asked about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
“We’ve been there for about 90 days, and the world says that, you know, we expect democracy to have occurred yesterday.
“It’s going to take a while for a free, democratic Iraq to evolve, but it’s going to happen. And history will show you, or the sceptics, that we were absolutely correct in our assessment of Mr Saddam Hussein.”—AFP