Bush vows to 'reveal truth' on arms
"We've made sure Iraq is not going to serve as an arsenal for terrorist groups," Mr Bush said in a speech at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, his coat off and shirt sleeves rolled up as he spoke to a sea of tan camouflage-clad US soldiers manning the command centre for the Iraq war.
Mr Bush noted the recent discovery in northern Iraq of what US intelligence agencies say are probably each part of a mobile biological weapons production facility.
No complete production system has been found. Neither trailer had any biological agent inside, nor showed any signs that they had been used to produce biological weapons.
"We're on the look. We'll reveal the truth," Mr Bush said, without specifically promising weapons would be found.
"But one thing is certain: no terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime because the Iraqi regime is no more."
Mr Bush's visit came as questions swirl around his primary justification for the conflict in Iraq that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and was poised to use them.
US and British forces have yet to find tangible evidence that Saddam had stocks of chemical and biological weapons ready to use.
In a recent interview with Polish television, Mr Bush pointed to the two trailers to say, "We found the weapons of mass destruction."
The president, fresh from a two-day mission aimed at bringing peace to the Middle East, emphasised the improvements the war brought to Iraq.
He mentioned the word "freedom" repeatedly and spent little time on the weapons issue.
The troops are trying to thwart a wave of crime that Mr Bush blamed on Saddam, who he said emptied jail cells of "common criminals" just before the war and left his people hungry and desperate.
"The world is now learning what many of you have seen," Mr Bush told about 1,000 troops, who cheered his every sentence. "They're learning about the mass graves. They're learning about the torture chambers.
Because of you, a great evil has been ended. Because of you, the dignity of a great nation is being restored."
Mr Bush spoke to troops in a warehouse at Camp As Sayliyah, the temperatures climbing despite the air conditioning.
After his remarks, the president paused to shake hands with troops. Soldiers held cameras and video recorders above their heads to get pictures.
"I've been on the road for a while and I hope you didn't mind us stopping by," Mr Bush said. "I'm happy to see you and so are the long-suffering people of Iraq."
Earlier yesterday, Mr Bush met privately with General Tommy Franks, the commander of all US-led forces
in the Persian Gulf and with Paul Bremer, the new head of the occupation authority in Iraq, to discuss the progress of Iraqi reconstruction.
He also paid a courtesy call to the emir of Qatar, a country that has been a longtime US ally.
Mr Bush said he was the first US president to visit the tiny Persian Gulf nation and left for Washington immediately afterward.
The president's major ally in the war, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is embroiled in the biggest controversy of his six years in power, accused of exaggerating the dangers posed by Iraq.
But Mr Bush's approval ratings remain high in US polls. And his visit here, his first to the region since combat ended, was akin to a victory lap after a seven-day trip to Europe and the Middle East.
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