Iraqis 'better off without Saddam': Bush

Iraqis will have better lives with Saddam Hussein out of power, US President George W bush said today.

And he warned the Iraqi leader – if he is still alive – to watch out.

“I would suggest he not pop his head up,” Bush said after meeting at an Army base with two helicopters pilots who were held as prisoners of war in Iraq.

Answering a question about Saddam’s fate, Bush said: ”Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. That’s for certain. He was in power, and now he is not. And therefore, the Iraqi people’s lives will be much better off.”

The president said “the liberation of Iraq will make the world more peaceful.”

Bush said he was not worried that anti-US demonstrations led by religious leaders in Iraq might hurt rebuilding efforts.

“Freedom is beautiful, and when people are free, they express their opinions. And, you know, they couldn’t express their opinions before we came. Now they can,” Bush said.

“I’ve always said democracy is going to be hard. It’s not easy to go from being enslaved to being free. But it’s going to happen, because the basic instincts of mankind is to be free. They want to be free.”

Bush came to Fort Hood, the largest US military base, to attend Easter services and visit two pilots who were taken prisoner in Iraq after their helicopter was forced down March 24.

The pilots were rescued with five other American prisoners of war on April 13 after their captors abandoned their posts ahead of advancing American troops.

Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the United States should not expect to create a functioning democracy in Iraq for at least five years.

“The institution-building process in Iraq is a huge endeavour,” the Republican said. “There’s not much to work with at this point.”

Lugar said the Bush administration started to work very late on a system to build a new Iraqi government. The military plan’s “tactics and execution have been brilliant,” Lugar said on the NBC television network. Similar preparations should have been mad for what was to come afterward, he said.

Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh said an extended American military presence in Iraq will be necessary. “We’re going to have to be there for a while – not permanently, but for a while, because we don’t want to win the war and then lose the peace,” he told on Fox television.