President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair Thursday used the bombings in Istanbul to justify their troops' continued presence in Iraq despite rising death tolls there.
Speaking after a meeting between the two leaders, Blair said the attacks in Turkey should not lessen "in any way" the two nations' commitment in Iraq.
The British leader called the process of ensuring a stable, democratic Iraq "an essential part in defeating this fanaticism and extremism" that is killing innocents in attacks around the world.
"Our response is not to flinch or give way or concede one inch," he said. "We stand absolutely firm until this job is done."
"They need to be stopped and we will stop them," Bush said for his part.
With some 100,000 anti-war protesters mobilizing for a massive march on Parliament as they spoke, Bush and Blair were seeking to turn the tide of opinion in Europe on the Iraq occupation.
Bush hinted that American troop levels in Iraq could increase, not fall as many have speculated with an expected transfer of power to Iraqis next year.
"We could have less troops in Iraq, we could have the same number of troops in Iraq, we can have more troops...whatever it takes to secure Iraq," he said.
Meanwhile, US occupation forces using helicopters and tanks killed 10 people who had attacked a convoy in the north-central Iraqi city of Samrra, some 95 kilometers north of Baghdad, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division said, according to AFP.
The attackers had used small arms and rocket-propelled grenades to ambush the convoy on Wednesday afternoon, said Lieutenant-Colonel Bill MacDonald.
American troops responded to the attack, using machine-guns, helicopters and tank canons, killing 10 people and destroying three cars, MacDonald said. (Albawaba.com)
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