Bush says next president must stay on offense

President Bush will tell the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) on Wednesday that the next president has to stay on offense to combat terrorism and that law enforcement measures alone will not get the job done.

Earlier in the week, presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) traded barbs in front of the group at its annual convention in Orlando, Fla.

{mosads}The White House said Bush wanted to focus on his “unprecedented support for our veterans, modernizing our military to reflect the needs of the war on terror and creating a more unified, integrated intelligence community.”

Throughout his remarks, excerpts of which were released by the White House, Bush is planning to defend the path his administration has taken on Iraq and Afghanistan and issued a warning to his would-be successor to stay engaged with terrorists overseas to avoid engaging them at home.

“America’s future leaders must always remember that the war terror will be won on the offense — and that is where America's military must stay,” Bush will say.

The president, who was also scheduled to visit the Gulf Coast again, tried to impress upon the next president that a “law enforcement only” approach is not enough to win the war on terrorism.

Bush will note that, while law enforcement was somewhat effective in apprehending the perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, “eight years later, al Qaeda terrorists came back to finish the job.”

“The lesson of this experience is: In this war, we must use all assets of national power to keep pressure on the enemy, keep the terrorists on the run and keep the American people safe from harm,” Bush will say.