Bush defends Iraq war, says he will attack another nation if necessary

WASHINGTON (AFP) - One day before Iraq's historic parliamentary elections, US President George W. Bush defiantly defended his case for war and said he would preemptively attack another country if he deemed it necessary.

In remarks aimed at shoring up faltering US support for the conflict, Bush also accepted responsibility for relying on "wrong" intelligence about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons programs to order the March 2003 invasion.

Still, "in an age of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, if we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long," Bush said in the fourth and final speech in a series ahead of Thursday's elections.

The US president, who embraced preemptive war as US strategy after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, did not name any potential targets but said the vote would put pressure on the governments of Iran and Syria.

"We are living through a watershed moment in the story of freedom," he said. Iraq "will be a model for the Middle East. Freedom in Iraq will inspire reformers from Damascus to Tehran."

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