NAMPA, IDAHO — President Bush vowed anew that there would be no retreat from the war in Iraq as he addressed a rocking crowd of military families Wednesday, a supportive contrast to the anti-war demonstrators who have been shadowing him wherever he goes.
"So long as I'm the president, we will stay, we will fight, and we will win the war on terror," Bush told National Guard troops and their families. Afterward, he met privately with relatives of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
About 150 protesters gathered across a parking lot from the arena where Bush spoke. Smaller groups were allowed closer in designated areas. Anti-war activists have staged vigils outside his ranch in Texas and during his three-day trip to Utah and Idaho.
Bush praised the unique role of Guard members, who serve both their states and their country. More than 243,000 National Guard members have been called up for the war, including more than 1,700 from Idaho.
Referring specifically to the war's growing death toll, a recent change in his remarks on Iraq, Bush said 491 Guard and Reserve members had lost their lives.
"And now we'll honor their sacrifice by completing their mission," he said.
In all, more than 2,000 U.S. military service members have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bush didn't say anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan's name, but he clearly sought to discredit the campaign for immediate withdrawal advocated by the slain soldier's mother, who has been camping outside his Crawford, Texas, ranch.
He returned there late Wednesday - as did she, after spending time with her ailing mother in California.
"An immediate withdrawal of our troops in Iraq or the broader Middle East, as some have called for, would only embolden the terrorists and create a staging ground to launch more attacks against America and free nations," Bush said.
Bush said the United States must stay on the offense even as troop casualties mount and violence continues.
"The stakes in Iraq could not be higher," he said, painting a bleak scenario if U.S. troops retreat and insurgents prevail.
"We will not allow the terrorists to establish new places of refuge in failed states from which they can recruit and train and plan new attacks on our citizens."
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