WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (AFP) - In an interview broadcast late Monday, President George W. Bush expressed no regrets over his triumphant May 1, 2003 announcement that major combat was over in Iraq.
Bush said he would "absolutely" do it all again: landing in a jet on a home-bound aircraft carrier and giving his announcement under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished."
"I flew out there, and said, 'Thanks. Thanks on behalf of a grateful nation.' You bet I'd do it again," Bush told Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" program.
"I'm saying to the troops, on this carrier and elsewhere, thanks for serving America. Absolutely. And by the way, those sailors and airmen, loved seeing the commander in chief," Bush said.
Bush did not actually say "mission accomplished" in his speech, but after initial denials, the White House eventually acknowledged that it had designed the giant "mission accomplished" banner that served as a backdrop for Bush's address.
Bush had triumphantly proclaimed the war in Iraq "one victory" in the global war on terrorism, which he launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks, while warning that "difficult work" lay ahead in Iraq.
Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry blasted Bush at a campaign stop in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Sunday.
"It's unbelievable that George Bush said he would do it all over again," said Kerry, reacting to advance transcripts of the interview.
"I'll never be a president who just says 'mission accomplished.' I will get (the) mission accomplished," said Kerry. "The president continues to live in a fantasy world of spin."
Most of the more than 1,000 US soldiers who have died in Iraq did so since Bush's May 2003 announcement, which opposition Democrats have painted as a premature declaration of victory.
"The president owes the American people the truth, and he owes the troops the truth," said the senator from Massachusetts, who hopes to unseat Bush in the November 2 elections.
In the Monday interview Bush was asked to react to a poll from late spring by the now-defunct Coalition Authority stating that only five percent of Iraqis saw the United States as liberators.
"I think they're beginning to, appreciate the sacrifice, because the country is getting better," said Bush.
"Its tougher than heck right now, because Zarqawi and some of these former Baathists are killing innocent Iraqis and killing our soldiers in order to try to get us to leave," said Bush.
The president was referring to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, head of the Unity and Holy War group -- linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terror network -- and members of Saddam Hussein's former Baath Party.
Bush referred to another poll in which most Iraqis said things are getting better. "And that's positive," Bush said.
"In other words, people are beginning to see progress. Electricity is better, schools are opening, hospitals are running. Um, I think when its all said and done, the Iraqis are going to look back and say thank God for America."