BANGKOK, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush used the occasion of a Thai veterans gathering Sunday to exhort Asian leaders to join forces with the United States "until the terrorist threat is fully and finally defeated."
Bush, who arrived in Thailand Saturday night in advance of Monday's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, praised the Thai government's contribution to the war on terrorism and for sending contingents of troops to support U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Some 2,000 Thai veterans who fought alongside U.S. forces in World War II, Korea and Vietnam attended the event at the Royal Thai Army headquarters in Bangkok.
Bush, accompanied by first lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, hailed the long and close military ties between the United States and Thailand.
"Today, our nations are challenged once again," Bush said. "We're threatened by ruthless enemies unlike others we have faced. Terrorist groups hide in many countries. They emerge to kill the innocent. They seek weapons to kill on a massive scale."
"We must fight terrorism on many fronts," he added. "We must stay on the offensive until the terrorist threat is fully and finally defeated. To win the war on terror, we must hunt a scattered and resourceful enemy in dark corners around the world."
Bush singled out Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, with whom he met earlier Sunday, for his decision to send a small force of Thai army engineers to help rebuild Bagram Air Base outside the Afghan capital of Kabul. Thailand sent a larger force of 422 engineers to the help rebuild the central Iraqi city of Karbala.
"Three months after my country was attacked on September the 11th, 2001, Prime Minister Thaksin came to America and offered Thailand's help in the war on terror," Bush said. "Since then, Thailand has committed military forces outside Southeast Asia for the first time in more than 50 years.
"Some of you have just returned from Afghanistan, where you gave many months of service. Thai engineers rebuilt Afghanistan's national airfield and helped restore much of that country's infrastructure. The Afghan people and the American people are grateful for your service."
Bush also praised the Thai government for its cooperation with U.S. agents in the arrest in August of an Indonesian national, Hambali, in the Thai city of Ayutthaya.
Hambali is suspected to have been the mastermind behind last year's deadly bombing on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Bush labeled Thailand a "force of good throughout Southeast Asia," citing the kingdom's commitment of peacekeeping troops to the world's newest nation, Timor-Leste.
The president also singled out a naturalized U.S. citizen from Thailand, Kemaphoom Chanawongse, who died while fighting as a U.S. Marine in Iraq.
"He was killed in action near An Nasariyah," Bush said. "This son of Thailand, this American patriot, was buried among America's greatest military heroes at Arlington National Cemetery. This brave Marine brought honor to the nation he served and honor to the nation of his birth."
