Bush regarding Iraq: "I firmly believe that the mission will yield peace" [View All]

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23181563/

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In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview Monday with TODAY's Ann Curry, Bush said that historians will look favorably upon the U.S. involvement in Iraq and insisted that the war has served as a stabilizing force for the Middle East as a whole.

“I firmly believe that the mission will yield peace,” Bush said during a stop in Arusha, Tanzania. “Iraq is changing. Democracy is beginning to take hold. I’m convinced 50 years from now people will look back and say thank God there were people who were willing to sacrifice.”

With first lady Laura Bush at his side, the president also said he believes spending on the war in Iraq is helping the economy, rather than hurting it, at a time when excessive housing construction is being followed by a period of economic slowdown.

He also affirmed his support for John McCain, should he win the Republican nomination, and predicted a Republican victory in November. On the decision by the Kosovo province parliament to declare independence from Serbia, Bush expressed support but stopped short of promising U.S. recognition.