U.S. Undaunted, President Says

MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — At one of the nerve centers of the U.S.-declared global campaign against terrorism, President Bush paid tribute Wednesday to the sacrifices made by American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and warned of more violence as an interim government prepares to take power in Baghdad.

“We can expect more attacks in the coming weeks, more car bombs, more suiciders, more attempts on the lives of Iraqi officials,” Bush said in a speech here at the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command. “But our coalition is standing firm. New Iraq’s leaders are not intimidated. I will not yield, and neither will the leaders of Iraq.”

To underline his resolve, Bush added: “We will not let thugs and killers stand in the way of a free and democratic Iraq.”

The U.S.-led coalition in charge of Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year is scheduled to return sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30, though the end of the American military presence in the country is nowhere in sight.

Bush spoke at the midpoint of a routinely deadly week of bombings and other armed assaults in Iraq. He was heard in person by thousands of troops and their families who gathered in a humid hangar at MacDill, and by U.S. military personnel worldwide who tuned in to live coverage on Armed Forces radio and television.

Bush’s stop at the headquarters of the command known as Centcom was his first since the early days of the Iraq war in March 2003. Centcom oversees military operations in a region spanning two dozen nations from East Africa to South Asia, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

“The men and women of Centcom have liberated two nations and have rescued more than 50 million people from tyranny,” Bush said in his 35-minute speech. “Today your nation is counting on you to ensure the defeat of terrorists, to secure America and to advance freedom throughout the Middle East. That’s our mission.”

But the president acknowledged that two concurrent wars had heavily stretched the all-volunteer military. About 138,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq and 18,000 in Afghanistan; many in both regions are reservists called to active duty. In addition, the Pentagon is extending tours of duty for many personnel.

“Many of you have faced long deployments -- sometimes longer than you expected,” Bush told the troops. “You miss your families. Your families miss you.”

Afterward, Bush met privately with the families of 10 service members killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns.

“He shared in their grief,” said White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. “He hugged moms and dads.”

At least 825 U.S. military personnel have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and 88 in and around Afghanistan, the Central Asian country once ruled by the Taliban.

Democrats said Bush’s speech did not square with the reality of a U.S.-led occupation that faced mounting casualties among troops and civilian contractors and hostility from much of the Iraqi public. They cited polling data indicating that many Iraqis want the occupation to end.

“The reality is we do not have enough boots on the ground to maintain security in a country as large as Iraq in the face of insurgent operations,” William J. Perry, who served as Defense secretary from 1994 to 1997, said in a conference call arranged by the campaign of Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. “It’s becoming more clear every month we are there. Our troops need help, not rhetoric. The reality is, the United States Army is already overextended.”

Democrats also noted that in Bush’s last appearance at MacDill, he pledged that U.S. troops would treat prisoners of war according to “the highest standards of law and decency.” That quote unearthed from Bush’s March 26, 2003, address brought up a topic omitted from Wednesday’s speech: the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Bush also sought to steer clear of controversies about his rationale for war in Iraq, instead likening the challenges there to those in Germany after the fall of Adolf Hitler.

“Some questioned whether a free and stable Germany could emerge from the rubble,” Bush said. “Fortunately, America and our allies were optimistic.”

Bush’s visit had a dual purpose: to boost the morale of a military stretched thin to meet the demands of lengthy occupation of two countries on the far side of the globe and to spotlight Bush’s role as wartime commander in chief in an election year.

Though Bush’s trip Wednesday was official business and therefore taxpayer-funded, there was a political element to his appearance in the Tampa Bay area. MacDill lies in one of the most hotly contested regions of one of the most hotly contested states in the 2004 election.

Bush has spent an estimated $2.3 million through Saturday on television advertising in the Tampa market. Kerry has spent about the same. Both are also raining commercials into nearby Orlando.

Mindful that the 6,500 military personnel based at MacDill are also likely voters in November, a grinning Bush shed his gray suit jacket and plunged into the crowd to grasp outstretched hands and pose for pictures.

Army Master Sgt. Bill Williams, 44, watched Bush work the rope line. He said he agreed with the president’s vision for Iraq and Afghanistan. “We’re doing good work over there, freeing people and hopefully creating a better way of life for them,” Williams said.

Asked whether he would vote for Bush, Williams hedged. “Oooh, I don’t know,” he said, identifying himself as a Democrat. He added: “That’s not to say I’ll vote for Kerry, either.”