Bush wows Salt Lake crowd

Thousands of Utahns cheered Wednesday night as President Bush arrived in Salt Lake City to deliver the first of a new series of speeches aimed at shoring up support for the Iraq war.

Air Force One touched down at 8:52 p.m., and Bush stood atop the stairway waving to supporters, estimated at 3,000 by the Secret Service. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. stood on the tarmac with his youngest daughter, Gracie Mei, 7, to greet the president along with Utah's congressional delegation, other officials and Sam Delis of Saratoga Springs, who was recognized for helping organize a clothing drive last year for Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

Bush thanked the throngs for "a fantastic Utah welcome," saying he wished first lady Laura Bush could have come. The president then launched into a preview of why he came to talk to the American Legion.

"These are challenging times, and I wish I could report to you that all is well. But there are still enemies who still want to hurt America," he said, referring to terrorists. "Our most important duty is to protect American people from further attack."

He then responded to critics calling for the troops to come home.

"We will defeat the terrorists abroad so we do not have to fight them at home," the president said.

As a band played patriotic music, Bush shook hands with those standing on the tarmac of the Utah Air National Guard runway east of Salt Lake City International Airport.

"I got to shake his hand. It was squishy," Bethanne Bissell, 9, of Layton said. Her mother, Utah Air National Guard Master Sgt. Rebecca Bissell, said she thought the president's speech was great.

Many people snapped photos while the president was there and stayed behind to take shots in front of the presidential plane, Air Force One, as did Darin Engh of Draper and his family.

"I thought it was wonderful. I enjoyed the part where he talked about the Almighty," Engh said, calling the speech "very passionate, very animated."

Bush will address the American Legion convention today and attend a fund-raiser for Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, at the Grand America Hotel before leaving the state at noon. He will begin the day with a private visit to the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Even before Air Force One touched down, protests and rallies both supporting and opposing the administration and its policies on the war on terror were held. An anti-war rally was led by Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson.

The president told reporters Wednesday during an earlier stop in Little Rock, Ark., that his speeches will be "about the future of this country, and they're speeches to make it clear that if we retreat before the job is done, this nation would become even more in jeopardy."