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 WASHINGTON (AP) - Two days before a major anti-war demonstration, President Bush said Thursday that withdrawing American forces from Iraq would make the world more dangerous and allow terrorists "to claim an historic victory over the United States."
Bush said terrorists have been emboldened over the years by the hesitant U.S. response to numerous events: a hostage crisis with Iran in the Carter administration, the bombing of U.S. Marines barracks in Lebanon during the Reagan administration, the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center during the Clinton administration, and others.
"The terrorists concluded we lacked the courage and character to defend ourselves," the president said. "The only way the terrorists can win is if we lose our nerve and abandon the mission.
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