IRAQ Bush says he holds himself responsible

A recent audiotape is helping to convince Iraqis that Saddam's sons are dead.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush accepted personal responsibility for a controversial portion of last winter's State of the Union address dealing with claims that Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear material in Africa.
"I take personal responsibility for everything I say, absolutely," the president said today at a White House news conference. Bush has been seeking to quell a controversy over a claim that has dogged his administration for weeks.
Speaking at his first solo news conference since March, the president said the deaths of Saddam's two sons marked progress in assuring the Iraqi people that the old regime was gone forever, but said "I don't know how close we are" to finding the deposed dictator.
"Closer than we were yesterday, I guess. All I know is we're on the hunt," he added.
Patience
Despite nearly daily deaths of American troops in postwar Iraq, Bush appealed for patience as Iraqis try and form a new, free society. "I didn't expect Thomas Jefferson to emerge in Iraq in a 90-day period," he said.
Bush said the United States and its allies would "complete our mission in Iraq, We will complete our mission in Afghanistan ... We will wage the war on terror against every enemy that plots against our people."
Bush had been asked before about the 16 controversial words in the State of the Union address, and had declined to take personal responsibility. Instead, CIA Director George Tenet did so, followed by a senior White House aide, deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley.
"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," the president said in last winter's nationally televised address. But many CIA officials doubted the accuracy of the British intelligence -- concerns that were not reflected in the decision to include the statement in the speech.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice has also come under criticism in connection with the speech and events leading to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Bush strongly defended his aide today, saying she was an "honest, fabulous person," and the United States was lucky to have her in government.
Convincing tape
Meanwhile, skeptical Iraqis began to accept that Saddam's sons Odai and Qusai were dead after a new audiotape attributed to the fallen dictator acknowledged his sons had become martyrs in the fight against American occupation.
During a patrol in Tikrit early today, U.S. forces came across a black flag strung up in front of a local government building. The writing mourned the passing of Odai and Qusai.
After asking his translator to read the gold and white lettering to him, U.S. Lt. Col. Steve Russell, whose battalion of the 4th Infantry Division is leading the raids in Tikrit, took out his pocket knife and cut it down, crumpling it in his hands before taking it away.
Watching the broadcast of the purported Saddam audiotape in Baghdad, Fahr Jihuri said the ex-dictator's announcement removed any existing doubt that Odai and Qusai were dead. "Saddam just confirmed that his sons are dead. As far as I understand him, he tries to incite people to attack Americans by telling them that his sons and grandson have died for the cause," Jihuri said.
Another Iraqi dismissed Saddam's call to arms. "Saddam is nobody these days. He has no power, no army, no friends. What can he do now?" asked Kahtan Muhhamad.
The voice on the tape said it was made in July 2003, but the exact date was not clear. Al-Arabiya said it received the tape Tuesday. The widely watched satellite station broadcasts across the Middle East, including in Iraq.
In the nine-minute audiotape, a voice resembling Saddam's said he was glad Odai and Qusai were killed because such a death "is the hope of every fighter."
"Even if Saddam Hussein has 100 sons other than Odai and Qusai, Saddam Hussein would offer them the same path," said the calm, even voice. "That is the hope of every fighter for God's sake, as another group of noble souls of the martyrs has ascended to their creator."
Authenticity
The CIA was reviewing the new message to determine if it was authentic, a U.S. intelligence official said. The speaker sounded like the voice in other recordings attributed to Saddam, with the same vocabulary and tone.
Before the Tuesday broadcast, the last audio recording attributed to Saddam was aired by Al-Arabiya on July 23, a day after his sons were reported killed in a firefight with American forces. That tape carried no mention of the sons, and the speaker claimed to have made it July 20. U.S. intelligence officials said it probably was authentic.
Another recording said to have been by Saddam purportedly was made July 14. U.S. intelligence officials said that recording probably was authentic, too.
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