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Blair defends Iraq war, Bush bashes 'sceptics'

REUTERS, Washington
With embattled British Prime Miniver Tony Blair at his side, President Bush on Thursday stood by his assertion that Iraq was trying to reconstitute its nuclear weapons programme and declared: ”We won' t be proven wrong."
A joint White House press conference intended as a celebration of the US-British special relationship and the swift overthrow of Saddam Hussein, was marked instead by questions about post-war chaos in Iraq, disputed intelligence and British terror suspects held in a US military jail.
Blau defended British intelligence on Saddam's alleged weapons
of mass destruction which they used to justify invading Iraq, saying he believed it was "genuine."
Bush called it "sound" and lashed out at "the sceptics," who have focused on a now-discredited line in his State of the Union speech about Iraq's attempt to get uranium from Africa. The White House says it should not have been included in Bush's address.
"He (Saddam) possessed chemical weapons and biological weapons," Bush said. "1 strongly believe he was trying to reconstitute his nuclear weapons program and I will remind the skeptics that in 1991 it became clear that Saddam Hussein was much closer to developing a nuclear weapon than anybody ever
imagined.""He (Saddam) was a threat. I take responsibility for dealing with that threat," Bush said, adding: "We won't be proven wrong ... We will bring the information forward on the weapons when they find them and that'll end all this speculation.n
In an impassioned defense of the war before a joint session of Congress, Blair said that toppling Saddam was justified even though weapons of mass destruction have failed to materialize.
"Can we be sure that terrorism and weapons of mass destruction will join together? Let us say One thing: If we are wrong we will have destroyed a threat that at its least is nuclear weapons program and I will remind the skeptics that in 1991 it became clear that Saddam Hussein was much closer to developing a nuclear weapon than anybody ever imagined."
"He (Saddam) was a threat. I take responsibility for dealing with that threat," Bush said, adding: "We won't be proven wrong ... We will bring the information forward on the weapons when they find them and that'll end all this speculation."
In an impassioned defense of the war before a joint session of Congress, Blair said that toppling Saddam was justified even though weapons of mass destruction have failed to materialize.
"Can we be sure that terrorism and weapons of mass destruction will join together? Let us say one thing: If we are wrong we will have destroyed a threat that at its least is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering," Blair said in what was billed as one of the most important foreign speeches of his six-year premiership.
"That is something I am confident history will forgive."
Blair and Bush are under fire for allegedly overstating the threat from Iraq's banned arms to justify
the conflict. What should have been a period of triumph after a quick military campaign has turned into a nightmare for the allies.
Political chaos grips parts of Iraq, troops are under attack and public trust in Blair has slumped while Bush's approval ratings have slipped since the war ended.
"We're being tested in Iraq," Bush said. "Our enemies are looking for signs of hesitation. They're looking for weakness. They will find none."
Blair alluded to the atmosphere at home as he thanked the US lawmakers, who gave him 17 standing ovations.
"I'm deeply touched by that warm and generous welcome," he said. "That's more than I deserve and more than I'm used to, quite frankly."
"It was probably as warm a reception as I have seen any foreign leader ever get," said Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
Becoming only the fourth British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the US Congress, Blair also sought to deflect criticism thathewas "Bush's poodle."
He said he and Bush would
discuss US plans to try British terror suspects being held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in military courts and release a statement about it yesterday.
The issue has caused an uproar in Britain with commentators calling on Blair to prove that he has influence over Bush. In a remark certain to fan the flames, Bush told reporters, "the only thing I know for certain is that these are bad people."
None of those imprisoned in Guantanamo has had a trial and they face a much-criticised military tribunal process. They have been designated enemy combatants.
The prison was set up to house Taliban and al-Qaeda suspects captured primarily in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Inmates could face a death sentence. Britain opposes capital punishment.
US officials said they did not expect Bush and Blair to spend much time discussing the intelligence on the Iraq nuclear program, which has been discounted by the CIA. Nor did they expect the president to ask the prime minister to publicly release the British intelligence.