Bush Cheers Troops, Says More Missions Are ‘Yet to Come’

President Bush on Friday lavishly praised members of the Army’s storied 10th Mountain Division, among the first units deployed in Afghanistan, while telling them their services “will be in need again--in missions yet to come.”

With an eye to future engagements in the war on terrorism, Bush also urged Congress to quickly pass his request for a large boost in the Defense Department’s budget. And he reiterated his administration’s intention to act preemptively against U.S. enemies who have sought to develop weapons of mass destruction--language aimed mainly at Iraq.

“To ignore this mounting danger is to invite it,” Bush said, without specifying any nation. “America must act against these terrible threats before they’re fully formed. We will use diplomacy when possible, and force when necessary. We will prepare deliberately, and act decisively.”

The president’s forceful restatement of his policy came amid rising calls in Congress--including by some Republicans--for a full debate before a decision is made to take on Iraq. So far, the administration has given little hint of its specific strategy or timetable for trying to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Bush’s audience made its position clear. As he spoke, someone shouted: “Let’s get Saddam!”

The remark elicited sustained applause from the crowd of more than 5,000 soldiers and their families--and a faint smile from Bush.

Bush also restated his strong opposition to U.S. participation in the new International Criminal Court, the subject of ongoing negotiations at the United Nations.

“We will not submit American troops to prosecutors and judges whose jurisdiction we do not accept,” Bush said.

After a heated debate with many of its allies at the U.N., the U.S. recently gained a one-year exemption from the court’s jurisdiction. The court was set up to try cases of genocide, war crimes and gross human rights abuses that are not prosecuted by the suspects’ own countries.

Bush was clearly buoyed by the reception he received from a sea of flag-waving, black beret-clad troops here--a welcomed respite from the Capitol’s focus on the past business practices of administration officials, including himself, and potential political problems caused by a falling stock market.

Bush had no public comments as the market suffered large losses Friday, but he plans to discuss the economy in his weekly radio address today.

Before addressing the outdoor gathering, Bush went to nearby Sexton Field, where he reviewed the maps and weaponry used by GIs around the world, including in Afghanistan.

He also watched an action-packed reenactment of troop movements in Afghanistan, as two Chinook helicopters appeared over a tree line and swooped down on the field, depositing about 20 heavily armed infantrymen before quickly taking off.

Then two Black Hawk helicopters appeared, each carrying a 105-millimeter howitzer on long steel cables. They deposited the big guns on the field and departed as six-member artillery teams ran over and swung the barrels in the direction of the trees in the distance.

The teams fired each weapon three times, using blank rounds. The teams then raced across the field, joined by infantrymen who had been lying in the grass with their weapons at the ready.

The soldiers converged directly in front of the president, forming a semicircle two soldiers deep.

“I’m proud of you guys,” Bush told them. “The enemy made a bad mistake. They didn’t understand you all. They didn’t understand us. We’re staying after them until we get all of them.”

As he does unfailingly whenever he talks about the war on terrorism, Bush counseled patience. “In Afghanistan, coalition troops still have critical work,” he said. “And the dangers haven’t passed. Elsewhere, new threats are taking shape.”

Bush did not elaborate on the latter comment. But in his speech, he clearly had Iraq in mind as he condemned nations that seek weapons of mass destruction and try to conceal them from international inspectors.

Such regimes, Bush said, “have shown their true nature by torturing and butchering their own people”--a description he has used before to describe Iraq.

Against such enemies, he said, “we cannot sit quietly and hope for the best.”

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, members of the 10th Mountain Division were dispatched to Bagram air base near Kabul, the Afghan capital.

As Bush noted, the infantry soldiers cleared more than 100 Al Qaeda caves, seized more than 500 stockpiles of enemy ammunition, patrolled about 500 miles of trails to block terrorists and their supporters from fleeing, and delivered more than a million pounds of food.

Congress is working on a defense spending bill for the 2003 fiscal year likely to total about $355 billion. The more heated debate is likely to occur over a separate defense authorization bill, which outlines how the money can be spent. There, the Democrats who control the Senate and the dominant Republicans in the House disagree about an array of issues.

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Times staff writer John Hendren contributed to this report.