President Bush on Wednesday praised the deaths of Saddam Hussein's two sons as the clearest sign yet that "the former regime is gone and will not be coming back."
Yet, Bush said that attacks from remaining holdouts continue to complicate the task of the U.S. forces. He appealed for more international military and financial support for postwar Iraq, AP reported.
In his remarks, Bush called Saddam's two sons "two of the regime's chief henchmen...responsible for torture, maiming and murder of countless Iraqis."
"Now more than ever all Iraqis can know that the former regime is gone and will not be coming back" Bush said, standing with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. occupation governor for Iraq.
Bush praised Bremer's work. "We have made progress, steady progress, in restoring hope in a nation beaten down by decades of tyranny," Bush said. He said that 19 nations were providing more than 13,000 troops "to help stabilize Iraq" and that additional help "will soon arrive."
Still, he said that "a few remaining holdouts are trying to prevent the advance of order and freedom....These killers are the enemies of Iraq's people. They operate mainly in a few areas of the country. And wherever they operate, they are being hunted, and will be defeated."
Bush urged "the nations of the world to contribute militarily and financially" to help stabilize Iraq. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
