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Bush: Iraqi weapons will be found NBC, MSNBC and news services
Although the search for weapons of mass destruction has come up empty -- and some U.S. officials have scaled back expectations for their discovery -- President Bush believes coalition forces will eventually uncover Saddam Hussein's banned arsenal in Iraq. "It's going to take time to find them," he told NBC News in his first wide-ranging interview since ordering a war against Iraq. He conceded that "there's going to be a lot of skepticism until people find ... weapons of mass destruction."
IN HIS INTERVIEW with NBC's Tom Brokaw, the president maintained that the interrogation of regime figures is probably how the evidence will be found. "We also know there are hundreds and hundreds of sites available for hiding the weapons, which he did effectively for 10 years ... from the United Nations. And that we've only looked at about 90 of those sites so far. I mean, literally hundreds of sites," he said.
"And so we will find them. But it's going to take time to find them. And the best way to find them is to continue to collect information from the humans, Iraqis who were involved with hiding them."
Uncovering weapons of mass destruction would go a great way toward assuaging critics of American policy, notably in Europe, who have said that the evidence against Saddam was not conclusive before Bush went to war.
In an interview aboard Air Force One, Bush also said:
There was "some evidence" that U.S. air strikes on the first night of the Iraq war may have killed or severely wounded the Iraqi leader.
U.S. forces could stay in Iraq for as long as two years.
He has no "military plans" to attack Iran or Syria, neighbors of Iraq. FIRST NIGHT ATTACK Bush was asked about the change of plan on the first night of the war in Iraq, when U.S. forces struck targets in Baghdad in the hope that Saddam and other top regime figures would be killed.
The president said he was worried about the strategy. "I was hesitant at first, to be frank with you, because I was worried that the first pictures coming out of Iraq would be a wounded grandchild of Saddam Hussein -- but Saddam Hussein, who was not there at the time we started making the decision, would never show up -- that the first images of the American attack would be death to young children."
But he said that the intelligence "got richer and richer" as the day progressed and that he became confident that Saddam would, in fact, be in the building that was hit during the bombing raid.
Some U.S. officials later suggested that Saddam may have survived that first bombing, if not later blasts targeting him and his sons. The release of videos of Saddam during the war increased the mystery as they suggested the leader survived U.S. strikes.
But Bush said there's still a chance that the strike that first night did the job. It might "explain why dams weren't blown up or oil fields weren't destroyed, even though we found them wired potentially to be blown up," he said.
NO PLANS FOR IRAN, SYRIA With the focus on reconstruction in Iraq, Bush repeated his warning to Iran and Syria not to interfere. But he said in the interview that the United States has "no military plans" against either nation.
Bush acknowledged rising demands from Iraqis that U.S. troops leave Iraq, but he said they would remain "as long as necessary." Could that mean two years? Brokaw asked. "Could -- or less. Who knows," Bush said.
He had pointed words for his critics, from the Dixie Chicks to French President Jacques Chirac.
Of Chirac, who led the opposition at the United Nations to the war against Iraq, Bush said: "I doubt he'll be coming to the ranch any time soon."
Bush has invited other world leaders to his Texas ranch, including Australian Prime Minister John Howard -- a war supporter -- for next weekend.
Bush said the position charted by Chirac for Europe "would weaken ... the NATO alliance."
Of the singing Texas trio, who have been outspoken critics of the U.S.-led war, Bush said, "The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind."
At the same time, Bush added: "They shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people don't want to buy their records when they speak out. You know, freedom is a two-way street."
BOTTLE OF FRUSTRATION In other part of the interview, which will be broadcast in full later Friday, Bush also:
Said that looting and vandalism, particularly in hospitals and museums was "the absolute worst part" of an otherwise successful military campaign. "It's like uncorking a bottle of frustration," Bush said.
Poked fun at the Iraqi information minister, who gave outlandish briefings denying U.S. forces were in Baghdad when they were just blocks away. "It was one of the classics. It was just unbelievable what he was saying."
Said he hoped to invite Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas to the White House "one of these days. ... I look forward to working with him." Bush indicated longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would not be invited.
Accused North Korea of returning "to the old blackmail game" in saying on Thursday that it had nuclear weapons -- and might test, export or use them.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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