Democrat hopeful scorns Bush on Iraq war, despite Saddam capture

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Democrat hopeful scorns Bush on Iraq war, despite Saddam capture

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United States Democrat presidential front-runner, Howard Dean, on Monday sharply criticized the Bush administration's handling of the war on Iraq and its continued US occupation, despite the capture of ex-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"Let me be clear. My position on the war has not changed," said Dean, former Vermont governor, in a speech delivered here to the Pacific Council on International Affairs.

He said the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq has alienated allies. He also accused the Bush administration of launching the war without workable plans for bringing stability to post-war Iraq.

"Throwing up our hands and assuming that nothing good can come from international cooperation is not leadership, it is abdication. It is foolish, and in the long run, it does not serve the security of the United States as it should," the anti-war Democrat said.

Dean's speech was planned before the announcement on Sunday that the US forces captured Saddam in a cellar near his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq, on Saturday night.

"The capture of Saddam Hussein is good news," Dean said. "It is good news for the Iraqi people and for the world. Saddam Hussein...will now be brought swiftly to justice for his crimes."

He noted, however, that Saddam's capture did not move the United States toward defeating al-Qaida and its terrorist allies, or addressing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Dean, who advocates forming a global anti-terrorism alliance, said the United States and its allies should contribute to a multibillion-dollar fund aimed at preventing terrorists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction.

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