Bush defends war in Iraq to Brits

LONDON -- President Bush brought a forceful defense of the Iraq invasion to skeptical Britons on Tuesday, arguing that history proves war is sometimes necessary when certain values are threatened.\nBush arrived Tuesday evening for a three-day visit to America's staunchest ally, a trip that promised contrasting pictures of elegant ceremonies at Buckingham Palace and noisy street protests by thousands of anti-war demonstrators. Britain has 9,000 soldiers in Iraq, the largest non-American force in the coalition.\nIn a speech today at Whitehall Palace, Bush plans to argue that war is the correct path when all other means have failed, a senior administration official told reporters flying here with Bush on Air Force One. \n"History has shown that there are times when countries must use force to defend the peace and to defend values," Bush was to say.\nBush did not plan to define which values he was referring to, nor when, exactly, it is necessary to go to war.\nThe remarks, billed by White House aides as a major foreign policy address, also were to reiterate Bush's call for countries across the globe, particularly in the Middle East, to embrace democracy.\nAnd Bush planned to strike back at critics who charge he has abandoned global organizations like the United Nations, casting himself as a backer of "strong international institutions that are effective."\nBush faced deep opposition. Organizers of an anti-war demonstration predicted 100,000 people would march Thursday against the Iraq invasion.\nOne protester used a bullhorn to bark a stream of anti-Bush and anti-Tony Blair invective at Parliament Square Tuesday afternoon, comparing the two leaders to Hitler. "How can you be bombing babies, Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair? It is not Christian, it is blasphemy!"\nA new poll contained good news for Bush.\nForty-three percent of Britons questioned in an ICM survey said Bush should visit the country, while 36 percent said he should not. About 62 percent agreed that America was "generally speaking, a force for good," while 15 percent believed it was "an evil empire."\nBush and his aides are fond of saying they do not pay attention to polls, but the senior administration official who addressed reporters on Bush's plane cited the new survey as evidence of strong ties between the two countries.