“Retaliation on Terror Could Take 10 Yrs...“

U.S. President George W. Bush declared resolutely in an exclusive interview with the Newsweek (Dec. 3rd) that the war against terrorism could take 10 years. He said that the war against terrorism has been successful so far, and suggested that this was could be expanded to Iraq as a next step.

Mr. Bush told frankly his personal opinions about this war led by himself in the first interview since 9.11 atrocity.

-What’s the role of prayer and faith in this?

"Prayer has meant a lot to me. It meant a lot to me before, it means a heck of a lot now because there`s a lot of people praying for me and I feel it. Truly. You know, it`s something, I have never felt more confident about something in my life. And I believe a lot of it has to do with the prayers of the people."

-Some people say that maybe you have too much power…..

"I`m mindful of the Constitution. I`m also mindful of history. I think about how others have used force... I think the president needs to have the powers necessary to conduct a war."

-Will it be a successful war if we don’t get him?

" Well, it`s going to be very successful in terms of changing the government of the Taliban. We`ve got his number-two guy. Look, it may take three years to get Osama bin Laden, but we`ve got him on the run. And I`ve always said that this is a get-him-on-the-run mission. Moreover, we could build up a new relationship with Russia during the war"

-But you’re saying it might take three years to get Osama bin Laden.

"It could take 10 years. We will get him. And we will get his organization. The thing America must know is that terrorism is alive and well. And it’s our charge, our duty, this generation`s historical opportunity, to rid the world of terrorism. And there`s going to be some fantastic consequences from it, in my judgment. And terror and weapons of mass destruction go hand in hand. To the extent that the free world can convince other nations to join together to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction, we`ve done our children and grandchildren a great service."

-Do you think that Saddam Hussein is evil and that we should expand this to Iraq?

" I think he`s got weapons of mass destruction, and I think he needs to open up his country to let us inspect. I think he needs to be held accountable and needs to conform to the agreement he made years ago. It`s up to him to prove he`s not evil."

Sung-Kyu Kim kimsk@donga.com