Bush mostly greeted warmly in Norfolk, Va.
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-29 14:00

It was President Bush's kind of crowd. Well, mostly. The president spoke Friday morning to about 2,000 invited supporters in Norfolk, home to the world's largest navy base and numerous service members. About half the crowd was in uniform, and more than 70 military members sat on risers on the stage.

"People here I think understand this fact, that America is engaged in the first war of the 21st century and the stakes could not be higher," Bush said. The audience cheered, applauded and whistled approvingly throughout the president's speech seeking to bolster public support for his Iraq war policies.

But outside downtown's Chrysler Hall, a small group of anti-war protesters chanted "Bush lies."

Inside the performance hall, shortly after the president began speaking, a man in a balcony shouted, "War is terrorism! War is terrorism! Step down now, Mr. President. Torture is terrorism."

Many in the audience turned toward the upper levels and booed. The president continued speaking as security officials escorted the man out.

Delivering remarks nearly identical to those he gave Tuesday in Washington, the president emphasized the need to stay the course in Iraq.

Army Capt. Treb Courie, 32, was glad to hear that.

"I spent seven months there, and I would hate to think that time spent away from my wife was wasted time," said Courie, a lawyer based at Fort Monroe in nearby Hampton. "If we leave early, then everything will have been in vain."

Steve Ketchum, 45, a master chief stationed at Norfolk Naval Station, also wanted the United States to "finish the job" in Iraq.

"We don't want to have to go back there and do this again in five years," said Ketchum, whose 24-year-old son Douglas, a private first class in the Marines, is getting ready to return to Iraq for the third time.

A number of other service members declined to comment about their commander in chief.

Bush spoke in Virginia just over a week before voters elect a new governor. However, Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore, who served as chairman of Bush's re-election campaign in the state last year, did not appear with the president.

Kilgore said earlier this week that he was not distancing himself from a president whose popularity is at record lows but that he simply wasn't invited to attend.

The event was organized by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, which invited chamber members, local and state elected officials and men and women in uniform, said Dawn Reed, the group's interim spokeswoman.

Les Smith, 36, a security system salesman from Virginia Beach, said he enjoyed "the opportunity to see a sitting conservative president." He said he supports the president's war policies and that the president needs to keep explaining to the public why the United States is in Iraq.

"He just needs to make the case better, a lot more than he is," Smith said, adding, "Maybe not so much (to) this crowd. This crowd knows why we're there."

About 25 protesters remained across the street from the hall after the speech, a white Norfolk police van parked nearby.

"We wanted to raise awareness about hypocrisy and corruption and cronyism" in the Bush administration, said Jonathan Hammond, 23, of Norfolk.

Some motorists honked horns and waved in support as they drove by. One man, though, rolled down his car window and shouted "Go home!"