From Yahoo News/AP:
WASHINGTON – President Bush said Friday that the fight in Iraq has been longer and more costly than expected, but he defended the U.S.-led invasion, saying the world could not have risked leaving Saddam Hussein's power unchecked.
In a speech he was delivering later on Friday, Bush defended his Middle East policies, claimed some progress and outlined his view of what President-elect Barack Obama will inherit there. Bush said state-sponsored terrorism continues to destabilize the region, people still live under oppression, political and economic reforms are advancing "in fits and starts," and Iran's uranium enrichment remains a threat to peace.
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My Comment: I predicted that the Iraq occupation and war was going to go on for ever. Fortunately ..... I was wrong.
But the Iraq war is coming to a close .... no thanks to Al Qaeda, Bathist dead-enders, Shiite death squads, Iranian interference, and the original opposition back in the U.S.