LEAD: Bush warns of nuke-holding terrorists overrunning Mideast

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING)

U.S. President George W. Bush vowed Monday to continue the war on terror as a ''struggle for civilization,'' warning that nuclear-armed terrorists and dictators will overrun the Middle East if left undefeated.

''We are now in the early hours of this struggle between tyranny and freedom,'' Bush said in a nationally televised speech from the White House Oval Office marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

''If we do not defeat these enemies, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons,'' Bush said, while pledging to hunt down al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and refusing to pull out of Iraq.

''We know that if they were able to get their hands on weapons of mass destruction, they would use them against us,'' Bush said, stressing that the United States ''is being tested in a way that we have not been since the start of the Cold War.''

''We are in a war that will set the course for this new century...and determine the destiny of millions across the world,'' he said.

The speech culminated Bush's day of paying tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. He and his wife, Laura, participated in moments of silence at Ground Zero in New York, traveled to a memorial event in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and then attended a ceremony at the U.S. Defense Department near Washington.

''On this day, we remember the innocent who lost their lives...and we pay tribute to those who gave their lives so that others might live,'' Bush said.

Noting that bin Laden, who plotted the 9/11 attacks, and other terrorists are still in hiding, Bush said, ''Our message is clear: No matter how long it takes, America will find you, and we will bring you to justice.''

Bush also said the United States ''will not distinguish between the terrorists and those who harbor or support them'' in an apparent reference to such countries as Iran and Syria.

''This struggle has been called a clash of civilizations,'' he said. ''In truth, it is a struggle for civilization.''

''The war against this enemy is more than a military conflict,'' Bush said. ''It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century, and the calling of our generation.''

Bush said the Islamic radicals have formed a global network with a goal of building a ''radical Islamic empire where woman are prisoners in their homes, men are beaten for missing prayer meetings, and terrorists have a safe haven to plan and launch attacks on American and other civilized nations.''

''We are fighting to maintain the way of life enjoyed by free nations...and we are fighting for the possibility that good and decent people across the Middle East can raise up societies based on freedom, and tolerance, and personal dignity,'' Bush said.

Defending the Iraq war, Bush said he is often asked why the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 when then President Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks, and stressed that Saddam's government ''posed a risk that the world could not afford to take.''

Al-Qaida and other extremists from across the world are now entering Iraq to stop the rise of a free society in the heart of the Middle East, joining the ''remnants of Saddam's regime and other armed groups to foment sectarian violence and drive us out.''

''What mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worse mistakes would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone,'' Bush said.

Bush said the safety of America ''depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad as bin Laden calls

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