Bush Takes Aim At Iraq Critics

Accuses Them Of Trying To 'Rewrite' History Of How War Began

(CBS/AP)  President Bush fired back at critics of the war in Iraq on Friday, accusing them of trying to rewrite history and charging that their actions "send the wrong signal to our troops."

In a combative Veterans Day speech at an Army depot in Pennsylvania, Mr. Bush said "The stakes in the global war on terror are too high and the national interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges."

Mr. Bush's remarks came in response to allegations that he twisted pre-war intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq, and amid waning public support for the war, in which at least 2,059 U.S. troops have died. Mr. Bush's own approval rating is also at an all-time low in many polls.

"While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began," the president said.

He spoke to an audience of veterans and active duty personnel at the Tobyhanna Army Depot from a stage decorated with posters that said "Strategy for Victory."

In a stinging response, CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss reports Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy said the president misused a day dedicated to honoring veterans for a "campaign-like attempt to rebuild his own credibility by tearing down those who seek the truth."

Kennedy, D-Mass., said Mr. Bush needed to come clean about the manipulation of facts to justify the Iraq war but instead has only "further tarnished the White House."

Other Democrats also criticized the president's speech, including Sen. John Kerry, Mr. Bush's challenger in last year's election. Kerry, D-Mass., accused the president of dishonoring the nation's veterans on Veterans Day by playing "the politics of fear and smear."

In his speech, the president offered a forceful defense of the war, saying it is the central front in the war on terror and that extremists are trying to establish a radical Muslim empire extending from Spain to Indonesia.

"We will never back down. We will never give in. We will never accept anything less than complete victory," Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Bush's appearance came as his primary justification for the 2003 invasion — that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction — has come under fresh attack on Capitol Hill. Democrats have seized on the indictment of a now-resigned senior White House aide in the CIA leak case to shine the spotlight on how the president and other officials used intelligence about Iraq in the weeks and months leading up to the war.

A congressional inquiry into the administration's handling of prewar intelligence is pending.

Mr. Bush said that foreign intelligence services and Democrats and Republicans alike were convinced at the time that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

"Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and mislead the American people about why we went to war," Mr. Bush said.

He said those critics have made those allegations although they know that a Senate investigation "found no evidence" of political pressure to change the intelligence community's assessments related to Saddam's weapons program.