Sorry for using military in Iraq but there was no choice: Bush

New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) Justifying his decision on Iraq,
former US President George W Bush Saturday said dislodging of
the "brutal dictator" Saddam Hussain was a necessity after
9/11 attacks but regretted that military had to be used to do
so as there was no other "choice".
Bush, who had earned immense criticism for the war on
Iraq launched in March 2003, rejected the suggestion that his
action had led to radicalism among the Muslim community and
insisted that the world and Iraq were "better off" now.
Describing Hussain as a "brutal dictator" who posed a
danger to the US, he said it had become more important for
America to remove him after the 9/11 attacks.
Removal of Hussain was important as it was "felt" that
Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction and the then
President was not allowing IAEA inspectors in, Bush said while
addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.
Hussain was arrested by the US troops from a hiding place
in December 2003 and was hanged on December 30, 2006.
Bush said the decision to "change regime" in Iraq had
actually been taken by the previous Bill Clinton
administration.
"My hope was to disarm Saddam peacefully... I am sorry we
had to use military but there was no choice," the former US
President said.
Explaining the necessity of using force, he noted that
the UN Security Council had passed 17 resolutions calling for
disarming of Hussain but the Iraqi ruler was not cooperative.
Bush claimed the US action had given Iraqis a chance to
choose an alternative to the "tyrant" ruler through democracy.
He said the decision to go to Iraq was not that of the US
only as 41 other nations had joined the campaign.
Rejecting the suggestion that the military campaign had
resulted in radicalism in Muslim world, the former President
argued that even before the US action, over 10,000 Iraqis were
getting training in terrorism in Afghanistan.
"What could we do, let them do whatever they could and
not let them anger? I don't buy this argument that we led to
more radicalism. We could not wait for them to attack the US.
The most important job for the President is to secure the US,"
he said.
Contending that extremists were posing an ideological
challenge to democracies and free societies, he said "These
killers want to change societies. We have to find these people
and bring them to justice. We have to strike before they
strike. We can't sit back and watch," he said.
At the same time, he insisted that he respected Islam and
wanted the Muslims to live in a society where they could
practise their religion freely.
The former President, who is seen as a hated figure among
many Muslims which was reflected by an incident in Iraq when a
scribe hurled a shoe at him, said in a message to the
community that they should not heed to "propagandists that
Bush and the US do not respect you and your religion". PTI AKK
DDC