Bush Backs Iraqi Leader in Speech to US Veterans (2/3)

President Bush had given a less-than-ringing endorsement of the prime minister Tuesday, saying that if the Iraqi government does not respond to the demands of the people, they will replace it. White House officials say the president was just "reporting the facts" and sought to clarify those remarks in his speech Wednesday.

In his latest comments, Mr. Bush compared Iraq to previous U.S. battles in Asia, saying the ideals that led America to help establish democracy in post-World War II Japan are the same ones that keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The president also compaired critics of his Iraq policy with skeptics of U.S. intervention on the Korean peninsula" class="hjdict" word="peninsula" target=_blank>peninsula, saying that back then, as now, some argued that the war was futile" class="hjdict" word="futile" target=_blank>futile and troops should come home.

"The defense strategy that refused to hand the South Koreans over to a totalitarian neighbor helped raise up an Asian Tiger that is a model for developing countries across the world, including the Middle East, and the result of American sacrifice and perseverance in Asia is a freer, more prosperous, and stable continent - whose people want to live in peace with America - not attack America."