Positive but Somber, Bush Predicts Hussein’s Defeat

With U.S. troops poised on the outskirts of Baghdad, a confident President Bush told thousands of cheering Marines on Thursday that the end was near for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his regime.

“The course is set. We’re on the advance. Our destination is Baghdad, and we will accept nothing less than complete and final victory,” the president declared. “Having traveled hundreds of miles, we will now go the last 200 yards.”

Bush’s words and upbeat demeanor were a sharp contrast to the defensive tone that he and other administration officials have taken in recent days. The president’s comments were a clear reflection of the battlefield successes enjoyed by U.S. troops after they initially encountered stiffer-than-expected Iraqi resistance in the war that began a little more than two weeks ago.

In what was his most optimistic speech yet about the war’s course, he said: “A vise is closing. And the days of a brutal regime are coming to an end. We will not stop until Iraq is free.”

After his remarks, the president, accompanied by First Lady Laura Bush, had lunch with some of the troops at this 246-square-mile Marine base on the Atlantic Coast. Then the couple met privately with about 20 relatives of five Marines who had been based here and were killed in Iraq. About a dozen Marines from Camp Lejeune have died in action in Iraq, and six or more are listed as missing.

It was the president’s first meeting with survivors of troops killed in the war. Reporters were barred from the gathering, and officials said that the relatives asked to remain anonymous.

Afterward, a senior administration official described Bush as “teary-eyed” during much of the 20-minute session.

Bush sought to comfort the family members, the official said, telling them: “You’re an inspiration. I’m proud of you. He’s in heaven. I believe the world will be more peaceful.”

The relatives, the official said, “would say things like ... ‘He loved his country.’ ... ‘He loved being a Marine,’ ‘He was proud to serve.’ That was the theme that the president heard from each of these families.”

Children brought to the session by widowed mothers included 6-week-old twin girls and a 2-week-old infant -- babies born after their fathers had shipped out.

Bush has previously met, also in private, with relatives of some victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the war to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan.

In honoring the fallen Marines with his stop at Camp Lejeune, Bush by extension was paying tribute to all the war dead. As he put it in his public remarks: “No one who falls will be forgotten by this grateful nation. We honor their service to America and we pray their families will receive God’s comfort and God’s grace.”

The president addressed a crowd estimated at 20,000, including 12,000 Marines in combat fatigues, all assembled on a sun-drenched parade field.

“This is a time of hardship for many of our military families,” he said. “All of America is grateful for your sacrifice. And Laura and I are here to thank each and every one of you, and we’re here to thank the Marines.”

Bush specifically praised the Marines who took part in the rescue of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from captivity in Iraq earlier this week, and he lauded the 19-year-old West Virginia woman as “a brave young soldier.”

The president also commended Marine Lance Cpl. Marcco Ware of Los Angeles, who was photographed carrying on his shoulders a wounded Iraqi soldier from the battlefield.

“That’s the picture of the strength and goodness of the U.S. Marines,” Bush said to cheers from the audience. “That is a picture of America.”

He accused “Saddam’s thugs” of mingling among civilians, killing Iraqis who welcomed U.S. troops, forcing others into battle and executing prisoners of war. The Baghdad regime is “doing everything possible to maximize Iraqi civilian casualties, and then to exploit the deaths they’ve caused for propaganda,” Bush said. “These are war criminals and they will be treated like war criminals.”

Despite his optimism, the president was somber during his 25-minute speech, except for one fleeting moment of levity early in his remarks: “There’s no finer sight, no finer sight, than to see 12,000 United States Marines and corpsmen -- unless you happen to be a member of the Iraqi Republican Guard.”

As he has in other recent comments, Bush stressed the liberation of Iraq as one of the war’s main purposes. Speaking at one point as if he were addressing the Iraqi people directly, Bush said: “Our fighting forces will press on until your entire country is free.”

The war’s goals, he said, are not only to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction but also “return that country to its own people.”

“And by defending our own security, we are freeing the people of Iraq from one of the cruelest regimes on Earth,” he said. “The Iraqi people deserve to live in peace under leaders they have chosen. They deserve a government that respects the rights of every citizen and ethnic group.”

Bush cautioned that it would take years to rebuild the oil-rich nation, but he promised U.S. aid.

The president closed his speech by uttering the Marine motto -- “Semper fi” -- and then snapped a salute to the hundreds of Marines arrayed on a grandstand behind him.