Revisiting history...
Bush: 'Bring on' attackers of U.S. troops
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush said Wednesday that American troops under fire in Iraq aren't about to pull out, and he challenged those tempted to attack U.S. forces, "Bring them on."
"We'll stay the course in Iraq," Bush said. "We're not leaving until we accomplish the task, and the task is going to be a free country run by the Iraqi people." He and his aides offered no timetable for the withdrawal of American forces.
More than 65 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since Bush declared on May 1 that major combat had ended. Twenty-six were killed in combat, the rest in accidents.
Bush pledged to find and punish "anybody who wants to harm American troops," and said the attacks would not weaken his resolve to restore peace and order in Iraq.
"There are some who feel like that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is bring them on," Bush said. "We've got the force necessary to deal with the security situation."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush's combative tone was not meant to invite attacks on Americans. "I think [Insert: He thinks, but he's not sure] what the president was expressing there is his confidence in the men and women of the military to handle the military mission they still remain in the middle of," Fleischer said.
But Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., called the president's language "irresponsible and inciteful."
"I am shaking my head in disbelief," Lautenberg said. "When I served in the Army in Europe during World War II, I never heard any military commander — let alone the commander in chief — invite enemies to attack U.S. troops." ...
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