Supreme Leader Says Bush 'Will Be Tried for Atrocities'

TEHRAN: U.S. President George W. Bush’s Middle East plan has been defeated and he will one day stand trial for “atrocities” committed in Iraq, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Friday.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remark at this week’s Friday prayers at Tehran University, on the second day of the fasting month of Ramadhan .

“In Islamic nations today, the Americans are condemned and hated by public opinion,” the leader told thousands of worshippers. “I have a firm belief that one day, the current U.S. President and other American officials will be tried in a legally-constituted international court for the catastrophes and atrocities committed in Iraq,” he said.

“The U.S. Administration will have to answer for not ending the Iraq occupation and for the waves of terrorism and insurgency that have overwhelmed the country. Their behavior won’t go on forever. One day they’ll be stopped just like Hitler, Saddam and certain other European leaders.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 to execute a Middle East plan that would be “centered on” Israel – Iran’s archenemy – and aimed at weakening Iran’s Islamic system.

The Leader described recent congressional testimony by top U.S. officials in Iraq as a sign of weakness, and of the failure of American policy in that war torn country.

“Over four years have passed since the occupation of Iraq and today everyone knows that America has failed and is looking frantically for a way out. Today we’re in a better political position that we were four or five years ago. We have moved forward in economic terms and in terms of the spiritual preparedness and happiness of our nation.”

“The United States has fallen short of its Middle East objectives and have failed to achieve their ultimate goals for the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the leader.

Ayatollah Khamenei brushed aside the notion that the United States could now threaten the Islamic Republic.

“Thanks to God, we are climbing the ladder of success … This demonstrates the total defeat of United States in its effort to weakening Iran,” he said.

“A nation like ours, without a nuclear weapon and less wealthy than other leading governments, has foiled an entire series of U.S. conspiracies and has forced them to give up and withdraw.”