US President George W Bush on Thursday said the war against Iraq will last "however long it takes to win," brushing aside a question about whether the conflict could last months.
Speaking after meeting at the rustic Camp David presidential retreat with British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair to study war plans and preparations for the conflict's aftermath, Mr Bush would not address growing pessimism about the campaign to topple Saddam Hussein.
"However long it takes to win. However long it takes to achieve our objectives," Mr Bush told reporters, touting steady progress in the invasion but warning that the fiercest fighting still lies ahead.
"Slowly but surely the grip of terror around the throats of the Iraqi people is being loosened," he said. "We're now engaging the dictator's most hardened and most desperate units. The campaign ahead will demand further courage and require further sacrifice."
"Yet, we know the outcome. Iraq will be disarmed, the Iraqi regime will be ended and the long-suffering Iraqi people will be free," the US leader said after meeting for the third time in as many months with his staunchest ally.
Mr Blair shared Mr Bush's convictions, saying "we can be confident that the goals that we have set ourselves will be met" and touted the early triumphs of the week-old campaign.
"In less than a week, we have secured the southern oil fields and facilities and so protected that resource and wealth for the Iraqi people and avoided ecological disaster. We've disabled Iraq's ability to launch external aggression from the west.
"Our forces are now within 50 miles of Baghdad. They've surrounded Basra. They've secured the key port of Umm Qasr.
"They've paved the way for humanitarian aid to flow into the country. And they've brought real damage on Iraq's command and control," he said.
AFP