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US waging 'ideological struggle' Bush urges Americans to back war
(about 2 hours later)
US President George W Bush has said the fight against terror is a "struggle for civilisation", in a speech marking five years since the 11 September attacks. US President George W Bush has urged Americans to unite behind the "war on terror" in a speech marking five years since the 11 September attacks.
Addressing the nation from the Oval Office, Mr Bush called for a unified country to "meet the test of history". The president talked of "a struggle for civilisation" and said the safety of the nation depended on the outcome of "the battle in the streets of Baghdad".
Earlier, Mr Bush attended solemn ceremonies in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The Middle East, he said, faced "terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons".
Mr Bush has only made five such addresses to the American people - the first was on the day of the attacks. US Democrats accused Mr Bush of playing politics ahead of November elections.
Mr Bush said the so-called war on terror was much more than a military conflict. The regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat... and after 9/11 Saddam's regime posed a risk that the world could not afford to take President Bush href="/1/hi/world/americas/5337138.stm" class="">Bush speech: Key excerpts One leading Democrat, Senator Edward Kennedy, said Mr Bush should be ashamed of using a national day of mourning for political gain.
'New threat' In a prime-time television address from the Oval Office, President Bush said the "war on terror" was much more than a military conflict.
"It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st Century and the calling of our generation," he said during the speech, broadcast during primetime on US networks. "It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st Century and the calling of our generation," he said.
"It is a struggle for civilisation. We are fighting to maintain a way of life enjoyed by free nations.""It is a struggle for civilisation. We are fighting to maintain a way of life enjoyed by free nations."
He told viewers that the US did not ask for this war. Eye on election
ATTACKS IN DETAIL href="/1/hi/world/5298746.stm" class="">How the towers fell href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456983/html/default.stm" class="">The four hijacks Mr Bush was speaking hours after attending solemn ceremonies at sites in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Islamist suicide attackers crashed hijacked airliners in 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.
"But the war is not over and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious," he said. His speech was dignified in tone and bearing, but the message was intensely partisan - a fact that will not be lost on his audience, reports the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington.
Mr Bush warned that failing to face the enemy now would create a new threat in the future. "We must put aside our differences and work together to meet the test that history has given us," Mr Bush said.
"We will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons," he said. ATTACKS IN DETAIL href="/1/hi/world/5298746.stm" class="">How the towers fell href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456983/html/default.stm" class="">The four hijacks He praised the heroes of 11 September, while for Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda's fugitive leader, there was a pledge to bring him "and other terrorists... to justice".
The BBC's James Westhead, in Washington, says the speech will inevitably have political significance for the US, deeply divided both on Iraq and the administration's tactics in fighting the "war on terror". However, as our correspondent notes, the speech also had the aim of shoring up Mr Bush's Republican party before the mid-term Congressional elections.
Mr Bush said the US must remain committed to Iraq. To help with that, he needed to convince a largely sceptical nation that the war in Iraq was part of the war on al-Qaeda.
"Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone," he said. "I'm often asked why we are in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat... and after 9/11 Saddam's regime posed a risk that the world could not afford to take," Mr Bush said.
"They will not leave us alone. They will follow us." "The world is safer because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power."
He said the safety of the US depended on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad. Senator Edward Kennedy, a leading Democrat, accused the president of using the anniversary to bolster support for an unpopular war.
As the nation marked the anniversary, broadcasters aired an apparently new video from al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who urged Muslims to increase resistance against the US. "The president should be ashamed of using a national day of mourning ... to seek support for a war in Iraq that he has admitted had 'nothing' to do with 9/11," he said.
In the footage, he referred to the recent Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, saying al-Qaeda had been given "every legitimacy" to keep fighting the US and its allies. Al-Qaeda, the militant network held responsible for the 11 September attacks, has issued a new threat of attacks which it said would target Gulf states and Israel in particular.
'Together as one' In a video released on the eve of the anniversary, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second-in-command, said Western forces were doomed to defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Earlier, flags flew at half-mast at Ground Zero, the footprint of New York's World Trade Center, as those present remembered the moments when the hijacked planes hit the two towers.
Tearful families of the victims, some clutching photos of loved ones, floated flowers in a reflecting pool in remembrance of those who had died at the site.
HAVE YOUR SAY 9/11 taught us the true brutality of terrorism J Fernando, Colombo Send us your comments US media on 9/11 aftermath International media review
Mr Bush, accompanied by First Lady Laura Bush, observed the memorial silences at a fire station among colleagues of the hundreds of fire fighters who died during the rescue operation.
He later attended a ceremony at a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed to the ground after passengers apparently tried to retake the aircraft.
A memorial ceremony was also held at the Pentagon, where 184 people died when a hijacked plane ploughed into the building.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's voice cracked with emotion as he paid tribute to Pentagon colleagues and servicemen who had been on the front line of US "war on terror" in the five years since the attacks.
After laying a wreath there later, Mr Bush struggled to hold back his tears as he met relatives of the dead.