Bush hails 'fire of liberty' sparked by Iraq war

CRAWFORD, Texas -- Marking the second anniversary of the U.S.- led invasion of Iraq, President Bush on Saturday cast the war as one of the "landmark events in the history of freedom."

"Only the fire of liberty can purge the ideologies of murder by offering hope to those who yearn to live free," he said.

In his weekly radio address, the president dwelled not on the weapons of mass destruction believed to have been in Iraq, though never found, but on what he called the "hopeful signs across the broader Middle East" in the wake of the invasion.

Democrats, though, seized on the war during their weekly radio response to chide the president for his budget proposals to cut some health care and other funding for veterans and raise some fees for benefits.

"Unconscionable," said Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a former national Democratic chairman who delivered his party's radio address.

Also Saturday, dozens of veterans, many on motorcycles, headed to the president's ranch to protest proposed cuts at the veterans hospital in nearby Waco. But they got only to the security checkpoint a mile or so from the ranch before turning back. There were no reported incidents.

The Bush-Rendell dueling across the airwaves was the latest signal that the partisan debate over the war has faded little since last year's bitter presidential campaign.

Bush again defended the war Saturday, continuing to brand the fallen Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, as a brutal dictator who posed a "grave danger" to the world.

"Because of our actions, freedom is taking root in Iraq," Bush said, "and the American people are more secure."

As newly trained Iraqi security forces become "more self- reliant" he said, "America and its coalition partners will increasingly assume a supporting role."

U.S. troops will come home when Iraqi forces are able to fully defend their country, Bush said. But he set no deadlines, nor offered any hint of a dwindling coalition, hit most recently by Italy's decision to soon begin withdrawing its troops.

Bush arrived at his ranch Friday evening for a long working break that will take him through Easter.

He headlined two Social Security forums in Florida on his way to Texas. And he'll promote his plan to overhaul the system again Monday and Tuesday during stops in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.

On Wednesday, he's hosting a North American summit with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin at Baylor University in Waco and during a luncheon at the ranch.

The president will be back at the ranch April 11 to confer with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as the United States tries to bolster renewed peace efforts between the Israelis and Palestinians, now led by Mahmoud Abbas after the death of Yasser Arafat.

Bush has met with Sharon repeatedly in Washington, but this is the Israeli leader's first invitation to visit the president's Prairie Chapel Ranch.

"Today, we're seeing hopeful signs across the broader Middle East," Bush said in his radio address. "The victory of freedom in Iraq is strengthening a new ally in the war on terror and inspiring democratic reformers from Beirut to Tehran."

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