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Vote won’t lessen resolve, Bush tells terrorists

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Times Staff Writer

President Bush warned U.S. adversaries around the world Saturday that Republican losses in the midterm congressional election didn’t signal a weakening of American resolve to win the war on terrorism.

“America faces brutal enemies who have attacked us before and want to attack us again,” the president said in his weekly radio address. “I have a message for these enemies: Do not confuse the workings of American democracy with a lack of American will. Our nation is committed to bringing you to justice, and we will prevail.”

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said in a response to Bush that voters made it clear they wanted “a new direction” in Iraq and his party intended to use its control of Congress to try to deliver that.

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Bush also went to Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday to join in solemn observances of Veterans Day. On a sunny, spring-like morning, the president laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and delivered brief remarks honoring the bravery of American troops.

“They are our nation’s finest citizens,” he said. “They confront grave danger to defend the safety of the American people.”

Since the March 2003 start of the Iraq war, 2,845 U.S. service members have died, according to the Associated Press. And 288 have been killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to oust the Taliban and attempt to capture Osama bin Laden.

In his radio address, Bush also praised outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who had become a lightning rod for critics of the war. After the Republicans lost control of Congress in an election that turned into a referendum on the war, the president announced that Rumsfeld would resign. Rumsfeld will serve until his replacement, former CIA Director Robert M. Gates, is confirmed.

Bush also said that Iraq, where about 145,000 U.S. forces remain in a struggle to squelch violence between Sunni Arab insurgents and Shiite militias, is “the central front in this war on terror.”

Giving the weekly Democratic response to the president, Dean appeared to draw a distinction between Iraq and the war on terrorism.

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“On Tuesday, Americans across the country made it clear that they want a new direction in Iraq and in the war on terror,” he said. “Voters also made it clear that they want defense policies that are tough and smart. Our agenda includes a new direction for defending America at home and around the world.”

Democrats in Congress, said the former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential contender, “will listen to the military, take their advice, and ensure that our troops and agencies have the tools and equipment they need to defend our freedom.”

Since Tuesday’s election, the president has met with the Democrats who will lead the next Congress and signaled he intended to work with them to find a solution on Iraq. In the midst of the campaign, he spoke harshly of the desire of many Democrats to get out of Iraq, saying it would mean “the terrorists win and America loses.”

On Monday, Bush is scheduled to meet with members of the Iraq Study Group, a committee of policy elders that is seeking to develop bipartisan proposals for a shift in the conduct of the Iraq war.

The group is led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who served under the president’s father, and by former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), a longtime foreign policy expert.

Chief among the recommendations the group is said to be considering: that the U.S. declare its commitment in Iraq not to be open-ended. That would be coupled with increased pressure on the Iraqi government to seek political solutions to the sectarian strife that threatens to tear the country apart.

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Members of the group are also said to favor involving other nations in the search for political solutions in Iraq. That could mean reaching out to Iran and Syria, which the Bush administration has branded as supporters of terrorism.

At Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, Bush singled out the 1.4 million active-duty members of the military for praise.

“They’ve brought down tyrants, they’ve liberated two nations, they have helped to bring freedom to more than 50 million people,” he said.

“Through their sacrifice, they’re making this nation safer and more secure -- and they are earning the proud title of veteran.”

ricardo.alonso-zaldivar@ latimes.com

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