Bush defends terror war in speech to veterans

President George W. Bush was defending his line-in-the-sand approach to the fight against Islamic terrorism, following presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama in a speech to a major veterans group. His address Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, was to highlight themes Republican hopeful McCain has been using to argue that he is better qualified to be commander in chief than Obama, the Democratic nominee-in-waiting. Bush, in remarks to the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, also was expected to address the conflict between Russia and Georgia, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Tuesday. Yet it is the nearly seven-year battle against nebulous terror groups such as al-Qaida that has dominated Bush's presidency and will carry over to a new administration next year.