5 yrs on, Bush says no regrets on Iraq war

With less than 11 months left in office and his approval ratings near the lows of his presidency, Bush is trying to shore up support for the Iraq campaign, which has damaged US credibility abroad and is sure to define his legacy.

But he faced the challenge of winning back the attention of war-weary Americans more preoccupied with mounting economic troubles and increasingly focused on the race to pick his successor in the November election.

Bush’s Democratic critics used the anniversary to press accusations that Bush launched the invasion based on faulty intelligence, mismanaged the war and failed to put together an exit strategy.

“Five years into this battle, there is an understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting, whether the fight is worth winning, and whether we can win it,” Bush told an audience of top military officers and about 200 Defence Department employees.

“The answers are clear to me: Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America can and must win,” he said.

Rejecting calls from Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for a timetable for early troop withdrawal, Bush touted the security gains from a troop buildup or “surge” he ordered early last year and said those needed to be consolidated. He insisted that “retreat” would embolden al Qaeda and Iran and put the US at risk.