Massed marines hear Bush say: The vice is closing
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Your support makes all the difference.An upbeat George Bush assured thousands of US Marines at their base in North Carolina yesterday that victory in Iraq was at hand, and he praised the American fighters on the battlefield for their "strength and goodness".
"A vice is closing, and the days of a brutal regime are coming to an end," Mr Bush declared, to loud cheers from a crowd of 20,000 servicemen and their families. "Americans are proud of the honorable conduct of our military, and I am proud to lead such brave and decent Americans."
The speech left no doubt that Mr Bush sees the war as a fight between good and evil, between American soldiers intent on bringing political freedom to Iraq and humanitarian aid to the country's long-suffering people, and an Iraqi government made up of "mass murderers... who have chosen to fill their last days with acts of cowardice".
He made no mention of the civilian deaths caused by bombing raids or the allegations that cluster bombs have been dropped in civilian areas around Hillah, south of the Baghdad – interpreted across the Arab world and beyond as acts of mass killing that, if true, may qualify as war crimes.
President Bush's tone at Camp Lejeune yesterday was noticeably more positive than at his last public appearance, at the military's Central Command in Florida last week, where he scratched a line out of his speech suggesting that the invasion was proceeding "ahead of schedule".
He made no specific reference to the anticipated length of the war, but did imply the capture of Baghdad was no more than a short dash away from the US front lines.
"Having travelled hundreds of miles, we will now go the last 200 yards," Mr Bush said, a clear piece of hyperbole that the White House was later forced to defend as poetic licence. As he spoke, the nearest US troops were still several miles from the outskirts of Baghdad, girding themselves for what promises to be a tough street-by-street battle to take the city.
The President had travelled to Camp Lejeune because the base had borne the brunt of American casualties with at least 13 dead – more than a quarter of the total so far.
After his speech, he met some of the bereaved families to thank them for their sacrifice in what he called "a great and just cause".
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