AFP: Bush: US troops to remain in Iraq until 'terrorists' defeated

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061020/pl_afp/usiraqunrestvietnamvote_061020072755;_ylt=Ah4FPXZ4kwbo2LGuX1PRFUzMWM0F;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

Bush: US troops to remain in Iraq until 'terrorists' defeated

by Laurent Lozano Fri Oct 20, 3:38 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) -
President George W. Bush insisted that US troops would not pull out of
Iraq before "the terrorists are defeated," a day after acknowledging a possible parallel between violence there and the Tet Offensive during the US war in Vietnam.


The comments, coming less than three weeks before crucial elections, follow his acknowledgement on Wednesday that the current steep spike in violence in Iraq "could be" compared to the Tet Offensive, widely considered to be key to souring US public opinion on the Vietnam War.

"Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging. Our goal is victory," said Bush, speaking at a rally Thursday for embattled Republican congressman Don Sherwood in the town of La Plume, Pennsylvania.

"We are a nation at war, and we must do everything in our power to win that war," he said.

"We will not pull out our troops from Iraq before the terrorists are defeated. We will not pull out before Iraq can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself," he said.