Bush lashes out at Islamic radicals

PRESIDENT George W Bush, trying to reverse a slide in public support for the war in Iraq, said yesterday that Islamic radicals are seeking to “enslave whole nations and intimidate the world”, calling it a prime reason not to pull out of Iraq.

Two-and-a-half years after invading Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein using chemical, biological and nuclear weapons that he appears not to have possessed, the president said the country was now at the heart of a war to stop international Islamists establishing a new Muslim empire stretching from Europe to Asia.

“There’s always a temptation in the middle of a long struggle to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder,” he said, seeking to address calls from anti-war activists for a US troop withdrawal.