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ABC News: Bush Forcefully Attacks Iraq Critics: "Bush Forcefully Attacks Iraq CriticsBush Forcefully Attacks Critics of the War in Iraq, Chiding Politicians for Making 'False Charges'
President Bush addresses the crowd during a visit to the Tobyhanna Army Depot, in Tobyhanna, Pa., on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, 2005. In a Veterans Day speech, Bush offered a forceful defense of the war in Iraq, saying it is the central front in the war on terror and that extremists are trying to establish a radical Muslim empire extending from Spain to Indonesia. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

TOBYHANNA, Pa. Nov 11, 2005 — President Bush strongly rebuked congressional critics of his Iraq war policy Friday, accusing them of being "deeply irresponsible" and sending the wrong signal both to America's enemy and to U.S. troops.

"The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges," Bush said in his most combative defense yet of his rationale for invading Iraq in March 2003.

Bush's charges brought a forceful response from senior Democrats in Congress, who accused the president of misleading the country about the justification for war. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who ran unsuccessfully against Bush last year, accused the president of playing "the politics of fear and smear."

Bush's speech was part of a coordinated White House effort to bolster the president's waning credibility and dwindling support for the war, in which more than 2,000 U.S. troops have died.

As casualties have climbed, Bush's popularity has dropped. His approval rating now is at 37 percent in the latest AP-Ipsos poll, an all-time low point for his presidency.

"When I made the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, Congress approved it with strong bipartisan support," Bush said in a Veterans Day speech at Tobyhanna Army Depot.

"While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began."

Bush's remarks brought a few jabs from fellow Republicans as well as a sharp counterattack from Democrats.

In a speech in Philadelphia, Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., criticized how the war has been presented to Americans both by the media and the White House. Afterward, Santorum said the war has been "less than optimal" and "maybe some blame could be laid" at the White House. "Certainly, mistakes were made," Santorum said.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who is weighing a run for president in 2008, has said he agrees with Democrats who are pressing the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee to move forward with an investigation into whether the administration manipulated intelligence."