US President George W. Bush on Tuesday said US forces would stay in Iraq as long as needed to win and conjured up an apocalyptic future he tied to a premature exit from the war-torn country.
Bush said that Americans in 20 years would find themselves in "a world in which radicalism and extremism was prevalent, in which allies such as Israel were surrounded by incredibly hostile forces, in which Iran had a nuclear weapon, in which governments were in control of these radicals who then cut off oil supplies to the West.
"That's the scenario that will happen if we withdraw before we achieve our objectives. People will look back and say, 'What happened to them in the year 2006; how come they couldn't see the threat?'" he said.
"I see the threat. That is why we have got a strategy for victory in Iraq," said Bush.
His remarks came during a political fundraiser two weeks before key November 7 legislative elections in which, many in his Republican Party worry, public anger at the war in Iraq could cost them seats in the US Congress.
He spoke after senior US officials in Baghdad and top Iraqi decision-makers said they had crafted a timeline of 12-18 months to achieve critical goals in Iraq.
Bush was in this Florida city visiting a school when the Al-Qaeda network struck the United States on September 11, 2001.