In Australia, Bush Rallies Asians to War on Terror

SYDNEY, Australia — President Bush used a key speech at a gathering of Asian and Pacific leaders on Friday to shore up waning support for the U.S.-led operations in Iraq and against global terrorist organizations.

In a speech to business leaders ahead of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation annual forum, Bush spoke optimistically about the conflict in Iraq and urged other nations to support the U.S.-led effort.

"We're going to succeed in Iraq," he said. "If given a chance, liberty will succeed every time."

Popular support for the U.S.-led coalition of forces in Iraq has fallen in Asia. The governments of Japan, Australia and South Korea face pressure to pull troops out of the war-torn country.

In Australia, which is hosting the forum, whether to keep soldiers in Iraq has become a top issue in a national election expected before the end of the year. Kevin Rudd, a politician leading in pre-election polls, has vowed to pull Australian troops out of Iraq if he is elected.

Despite no Australian deaths in Iraq, "the views of our participation in the war have been quite negative for a long time," said Malcolm Cook, an expert in the Asia-Pacific region at the Lowry Institute for International Policy, an Australian think tank.

Majorities of South Koreans and Japanese favor the U.S. withdrawing its troops from Iraq "as soon as possible," a poll released in June by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center found.

Bush used his speech to argue that Asian nations should stand with the United States to fight terrorism because they also have suffered terrorist attacks.

"Today, our nations are standing side by side in the great ideological struggle of our time — the global war on terror," Bush said.

"The nations of the Asia Pacific understand the threat, because you have experienced terrorist violence in your cities and on your streets," he said.

Bush specifically mentioned two of the largest Asian groups that have been linked to terrorist attacks: Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah and Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf.

Jemaah Islamiyah has been linked to bombings of nightclubs, a hotel and an embassy in Indonesia in recent years while Abu Sayyaf members bombed a ferry in the Philippines in 2004, killing 116 people.

Because of actions by the governments of Indonesia and the Philippines, "the terrorists are on the run and we must not let up the pressure," Bush said.

Later in the day, Bush was involved in an awkward exchange with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

At a photo session, Roh listened to Bush's remarks and then commented, "I think I did not hear President Bush mention a declaration to end the Korean War just now. Did you say so, President Bush?"

Bush looked annoyed, according to reporters at the session, and responded, "I can't make it any more clear, Mr. President. We look forward to the day when we can end the Korean War. That will happen when (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-il verifiably gets rid of his weapons programs and his weapons."

But shortly afterward, Christopher Hill, the top U.S. negotiator with North Korea, appeared at a U.S. press briefing to announce that Kim's government had invited experts from the United States, China and Russia to visit nuclear facilities that it plans to close.

The North Korean invitation was "another significant step toward the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Hill said.

In a deal agreed to in February by six nations including North Korea and the United States, Kim's regime will dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for fuel and other foreign aid — steps Washington hopes will lead to the country eventually destroying an unknown number of nuclear weapons.

Bush also used his speech and meetings on Friday to promote democracy and human rights in Asia.

Addressing the business leaders, he urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to use next year's Olympics, which will be held in Beijing, to show "a commitment to greater openness and tolerance" and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to "respect the checks and balances that are essential to democracy."

During a private meeting later in the day, Bush and Putin mixed politics and pleasure by discussing both missile defense and fishing.

Moscow opposes a U.S. plan to station an antimissile radar system in the Czech Republic and Poland, and has said deployment of interceptor missiles in the countries would spark a new arms race.

Putin has proposed instead that Russia and the United States work together on a joint missile defense project. On Friday, he said the leaders had agreed that experts from the two nations would look at a possible joint site in Azerbaijan.

Bush did not comment about the missile defense talks, but mentioned fishing.

During a recent trip to his parents' home in Kennebunkport, Maine, Putin had been the only person to catch a fish, Bush said.

Putin said the two leaders had agreed to go fishing in Siberia soon.