Bush Urges Patience ‘Until Fight Is Won’

President Bush pledged Monday to keep U.S. forces in Iraq “until the fight is won,” telling a Fourth of July crowd that he had “a comprehensive strategy” to win the struggle in Iraq and prevail in the global war on terrorism.

Making his third Independence Day visit to West Virginia in four years, the president asked Americans to remain patient, saying: “We know that the freedom we defend is meant for all men and women, and for all times. And we know that when the work is hard, the proper response is not retreat; it is courage.”

In recent weeks, Bush has been under growing pressure, including from some Republican lawmakers, to articulate an exit strategy -- what the White House prefers to call “a strategy for success” -- for Iraq.

In his remarks here, however, Bush did not go beyond the points he made June 28 in a nationally televised prime-time address from Ft. Bragg, N.C.

“In this time of testing, our troops, whether they be stationed here or abroad, can know that the American people stand behind them all the way,” Bush told several thousand ticket-holders on a sun-drenched, grassy quad at the downtown campus of West Virginia University.

“Some of America’s finest men and women have given their lives in the war on terror, and we remember them on Independence Day. We pray for the families who have lost a loved one in freedom’s cause. And we know that the best way to honor their sacrifice is to complete the mission, so we will stay until the fight is won,” he declared, slamming his right fist on the lectern.

As he spoke, the shouts of a cluster of demonstrators could be heard, although their words were difficult to discern.

White House aides were hard-pressed to explain Bush’s penchant for visiting the Mountain State on Independence Day. “It’s a great place to go for the Fourth of July,” said Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino.

In his remarks, Bush noted that it had become a tradition for him to visit the state on July 4. West Virginia is historically a Democratic state, but in November’s presidential election, its voters backed Bush over Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) by 56% to 43%.

“It looks good for him to go to West Virginia because of its history as a Democratic state,” said Washington political analyst Charlie Cook. “But the truth is that as a small-town and rural-oriented state, it’s trending Republican.”

There also is “less potential for antiwar demonstrations” during a Bush visit, Cook said.

In his remarks, the president again linked Iraq to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and explained anew the Bush doctrine of taking preemptive strikes against terrorists and their allies “so we don’t have to face them here at home.”

Apparently referring to the growing levels of insurgent violence in Iraq, Bush called Iraq “the latest battlefield in the war on terror” and said: “Our work there is difficult and dangerous because terrorists from across the region are converging on Iraq to fight the rise of democracy.”

He acknowledged that the “images of cruelty and suffering we see on television” are “difficult for our compassionate nation to watch.”

“Yet the terrorist violence has not brought them any closer to achieving their strategic objectives,” he said. “The terrorists tried to intimidate the Iraqi Governing Council, and they failed. They tried to delay the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq, and they failed. They tried to stop the free Iraqi elections, and they failed. They continue to kill in the hope that they will break the resolve of the American people, but they will fail.”

The president was back at the White House by lunchtime. He leaves today for Denmark and then Scotland, where he will attend the Group of 8 meeting of the heads of the world’s eight leading industrialized nations.