By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUS President George W. Bush said Saturday there would be no early withdrawal of American troops from Iraq because "sober judgment" must prevail over emotional calls to end the military mission before the country is stabilized.
"We will fight the terrorists in Iraq," Bush said in a speech at a US military air base south of Seoul, the South Korean capital. "We will stay in the fight until we have achieved the victory that our brave troops have fought for. The defense of freedom is worth our sacrifice."
The speech added the president's voice, from thousands of miles away, to a nasty debate in Congress over his Iraq policies and the timing of any US withdrawal. It also continued a rapid-fire White House counterattack against the president's newly aggressive war critics.