Bush Compares War on Terror to Fight for Freedom Against Nazis

The US president, George Bush, yesterday cast the war on terror as a struggle between freedom and tyranny similar to that of the second world war as he sought to shore up support for American policies in the Middle East.

In a speech to Air Force Academy graduates in Colorado Springs, Mr Bush drew direct comparisons between the current fight and the battle against the Nazis.

The war on terror he said "resembles the great clashes of the last century between those who put their trust in tyrants and those who put their trust in liberty.

"Our goal, the goal of this generation is the same. We will secure our nation and defend the peace through the forward march of freedom."

Terrorism, he said, was no different to the "murderous ideologies of the 20th century".

Mr Bush peppered his speech with historic references, including a reminder of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. "Like the second world war, our present conflict began with a ruthless surprise attack on the United States," he said. "We will not forget that treachery and we will accept nothing less than victory over the enemy."

The threats of al-Qaida he said were "echoes of other enemies in other times; that same swagger and demented logic of the fanatic".

The timing of the speech seemed carefully planned, coming a day ahead of a planned trip to Europe to take part in ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the D-day invasion, including a June 6 appearance at the site of the 1944 Normandy landings. He will meet with leaders in France, Germany and Italy.

In an interview with Paris Match, Mr Bush played down his disagreements with France ahead of his Europe trip. He said he was never angry with France over its refusal to back the US-led war in Iraq.

But President Jacques Chirac, warned yesterday that a new draft UN resolution proposal on Iraq put forward by the US with Britain "needs further improvement to affirm and confirm the full sovereignty of the Iraqi government, particularly in the military domain".

The US earlier voiced confidence that it could "accommodate the requests and views" of most of the security council's 15 members in the revised resolution on Iraq.

Iraq's interim foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, flew to New York last night determined to press the UN security council for "as much sovereignty as possible" during talks today over the new draft resolution.

The US-British proposal, revealed on Tuesday, is designed to underpin the country's transition from occupation to independence.

It gives Ayad Allawi's new interim government control of the Iraqi army and police, and provides for the withdrawal of the US-led multinational force by January 2006, after full elections and the passing of a permanent constitution.

But an aide to the prime minister-designate in Baghdad said yesterday that the new Iraqi government was "determined to be able to rule without interference".

"That way the government can gain the acceptance of people until elections."

Responding to a question after his first cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr Allawi said: "The forces which will be deployed in Iraq will be the multinational forces under the control of the United Nations. Maybe the commanding officer of the coalition forces, of the multinational forces rather, would be from the United States because they will be the most country participating in the multinational force. [sic] We cannot forecast."

Critics of the new draft say that the resolution still needs to spell out whether Iraqi troops have the right to refuse a military order from the US command.

Richard Armitage, the US deputy secretary of state, said yesterday: "As a sovereign government, they would have to be able to refuse."

During another day of violence yesterday, a car bomb in Baghdad - the third in as many days - killed at least five Iraqis and injured more than 30 others.

In Falluja, suspected insurgents fired mortar rounds in the suburb of Kharma, killing one civilian.

In Kufa, militants loyal to the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clashed with US forces near a mosque. The Associated Press reported that six Iraqis were thought to have been killed and 40 wounded.