Bush takes responsibility for Iraq gaffe

President George Bush today accepted responsibility for a discredited portion his State of the Union address that suggested deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was shopping for nuclear material in Africa.

“I take personal responsibility for everything I say, absolutely,” the president said during an hour-long White House news conference where he sought to quell a controversy that has dogged his administration for weeks.

It was the first time he had specifically taken responsibility for the words. In the past, he side-stepped the question, only taking responsibility for his decisions.

Bush also expressed strong support for his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, defending her against criticism over her role in the controversy.

Speaking at his first solo news conference since March, the president said the deaths of Saddam Hussein’s two sons marked progress in assuring the Iraqi people that the old regime was gone forever.

Still, he said he does not know how close American troops are to finding the deposed dictator.

“Closer than we were yesterday, I guess. All I know is we’re on the hunt,” he added.

Bush also said there was a “real threat” of a new al-Qaida attack on the United States, responding to a Department of Homeland Security warning about the possibility that the terror organisation tied to the September 11 terror attacks may try more suicide hijackings.

Without shedding much light on the warning, Bush said, ”I’m confident that we will thwart their attempts.”

Despite nearly daily deaths of American troops in post-war Iraq, Bush appealed for patience as Iraqis try to form a new, free society.

“I didn’t expect Thomas Jefferson to emerge in Iraq in a 90 day period,” he said, referring to America’s third president, a powerful advocate of liberty .

Bush said the United States and its allies would ”complete our mission in Iraq, We will complete our mission in Afghanistan ... We will wage the war on terror against every enemy that plots against our people.”

In his State of the Union speech, Bush uttered 16 words that have come back to haunt him: “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”

Many CIA officials doubted the accuracy of the British intelligence. While previously declining to take personal responsibility for those words, CIA Director George Tenet did so, followed by a senior White House aide, deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley.

Rice has also come under criticism in connection with the speech and events leading to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Bush strongly defended his national security adviser, saying she was an “honest, fabulous person” and the United States was lucky to have her in government.

Fielding questions in the summer heat, Bush also defended his decision not to declassify a portion of a congressional report dealing with intelligence lapses in advance of the September 11 attacks, even though several influential members of Congress and the government of Saudi Arabia had requested him to do so.

Bush said: “Since I’m in charge of the war on terror, we won’t reveal source and methods” of gathering intelligence.

The president opened his news conference with a pledge to fight the war on terrorism as well as push the economy toward recovery.

On other issues, Bush:

:: Said the United States must sort through “literally miles of documents” to learn the truth of whether Saddam’s regime had ties to al-Qaida and details about its weapons programs. “We’ve been there for 90 days,” he said.

:: Renewed his contention that the best way to deal with nuclear weapons programs in North Korea is to draw regional neighbours into efforts to stop them. Working directly with North Korea didn’t work in the past, he said.

:: Would not say whether he will ultimately send ground forces into Liberia but reiterated that President Charles Taylor must step aside, and a ceasefire must take hold, before Americans go in to help stabilise the country for the United Nations and relief groups.

:: Said “all options remain on the table” on confronting Iran’s alleged attempts to build nuclear weapons, but said he hoped tensions could be resolved peacefully. He noted that Iran still officially seeks the destruction of Israel.