Bush Declares 'Beginning Of The End For Extremists'

WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (AFP) - President George W. Bush predicted in an interview broadcast Monday that the fight against terrorism, which has been a centerpiece of his presidency, will be won within the next generation if the United States stays the course he has charted.
"When we succeed in Iraq and Afghanistan, it`s the beginning of the end for extremists," he told NBC television.
"I think if we are strong and resolute, it`s less likely that your kids will live under the threat of Al-Qaeda for a long period of time."
"I don`t have a definite end," the president noted on the eve of his nomination to a second four-year presidential term at this week`s Republican National Convention in New York. "But I want to make sure your kids can grow up in a peaceful world. If we believe you can`t win, the alternative is to retreat."
"We cannot show weakness in this world today, because the enemy will exploit that weakness," Bush declared. "It will embolden them, and make the world a more dangerous place."
He added, however, that while it is unlikely terrorism will ever be completely eradicated, "I think you can create conditions so those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world."
"The country must never yield, never show weakness, and must continue to lead to find the Al-Qaeda affiliates who are hiding around the world and who want to harm us, and bring them to justice," Bush continued.
The president said in the interview broadcast on NBC television`s "Today" show that he had never even considered what it might have been like to govern without the specter of terror looming in the background.
"I haven`t had that luxury, because it (Bush`s presidency) was defined by 9/11. ... As I tell the people, every day I wake up thinking about how better to protect America," he said.
Bush takes the stage at New York`s Madison Square Garden Thursday to accept his party`s nomination for president, starting the final phase of a campaign that he hopes will return him to the White House when voters go to the polls on November 2.
The 58-year-old Texan has made the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq, and his response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the basis of his re-election campaign.
He told NBC that the decision to wage war in Iraq, in particular, was a sound one.
"No doubt in my mind we made the right decision. No doubt in my mind the world is better off with Saddam Hussein if a prison cell," he said.
"When Iraq emerges as a free society, the people will see the wisdom of the decision we made," Bush said.