In his final news conference of the year, President Bush offered a stern defense of his ordering of secret wiretaps within the United States and made a spirited plea for the renewal of the Patriot Act.

The president's top priority was to quell the growing outrage over the revelation on Friday by The New York Times of a widespread, ongoing domestic eavesdropping program by the National Security Agency that has targeted phone conversations and e-mail exchanges within the U.S. (see "Bush Gave U.S. Agency Authorization To Spy On Americans"). "My personal opinion is it was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war," Bush said during an hour-long news conference on Monday (December 19), arguing that disclosing this type of secret program would help terrorists change and refocus their tactics.

"You've got to understand, and I hope the American people understand, there is still an enemy that would like to strike the United States of America and they are very dangerous," he said. Bush, who earlier defended the spying by the NSA in an impromptu live radio address in place of his typically taped chat on Saturday, said he has not initiated an investigation into the leaking of the information, but presumed that the Justice Department was doing so.

Though the disclosure of the covert domestic spying program has caused concern among both Democrats and Republicans, with some calling for hearings into whether it violates the Constitution, Bush vigorously defended his right to order the program, which he said he has renewed more than 30 times.

Explaining why, even though there is a more direct method of ordering these taps, he chose to circumvent that path and order the NSA to eavesdrop without first obtaining a court order, the president said, "After our country was attacked on September 11 and nearly 3,000 lives were lost, I vowed to do everything within my power to bring justice to those who were responsible. I also pledged to the American people to do everything within my power to prevent this from happening again."

Bush said the administration quickly learned that al Qaeda was not a conventional enemy and that "some lived in our cities and communities and communicated from here in America to plot and plan with [Osama] bin Laden's lieutenants in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. Then they boarded our airplanes and launched the worst attack on our country in our nation's history."

This new threat, he said, "Required us to think and act differently." Using authority granted to him by the Congress and the Constitution, the president said he ordered the secret program in order to spy on people with known links to al Qaeda and related organizations and that leaders in Congress have been briefed on it more than a dozen times. Bush said he will continue to renew the secret program "for so long as the nation faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill American citizens."

As an example of why the leaking of this information is so damaging, the president pointed out a news report from the late 1990s in which someone described the type of satellite phone bin Laden was using to communicate with his commanders. "And guess what happened," Bush said. "Saddam, uh, Osama bin Laden, changed his behavior. He began to change how he communicated."

Bush also railed at senators who he said were holding up the renewal of the Patriot Act, which he said tore down the "legal and bureaucratic wall that kept law enforcement and intelligence authorities from sharing vital intelligence on terrorist threats." Key provisions of the law are set to expire in 12 days.

"In the war on terror we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment," Bush said. "I want senators from New York ... or Las Vegas to go home and explain why these cities are safer [without the renewal]." New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Nevada Senator Harry Reid helped block the legislation from passing last week.

After touting some positive notes on domestic job creation and economic growth, Bush faced strong queries from reporters, who asked him what he thought was his biggest mistake so far while in office, whether his administration has ignored the threat of a civil war in Iraq after American troops pull out and how he responds to charges that his administration isn't sympathetic to the plight of black people (see "Jay-Z, Diddy, Others Reach Out To Disaster Victims; Kanye West Attacks Bush During Telethon").

"One of the most hurtful things I can hear is, 'You know, Bush doesn't care about African-Americans,' " he said. "First of all, it's not true. And secondly, I am — I believe that — obviously, I've got to do a better job of communicating, I guess, to certain folks."

On Sunday night, the president gave a 17-minute prime-time speech from the Oval Office in which he again defended the ongoing war in Iraq and pleaded with Americans not to "give in to despair," despite the hardships and more than 2,100 lost American lives. "Some look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude that the war is lost and not worth another dime or another day," Bush said. "I don't believe that. Our military commanders do not believe that. Our troops in the field, who bear the burden and make sacrifice, do not believe that America has lost."

The president said as Iraq makes a transition to democracy (see "Amid Sporadic Violence, Iraqis Go To Polls For Historic Vote"), the terrorists are feeling the pressure and a "tightening noose."

Though he made no promises, the president — making his fifth major speech on Iraq in 19 days — also hinted at potential troop withdrawals in 2006 (see "Bush Lays Out 'Plan For Victory' In Iraq, Again Rejects Timetable For Withdrawal"). "We will see the Iraqi military gaining strength and confidence and the democratic process moving forward. As these achievements come, it should require fewer American troops to accomplish our mission. I will make decisions on troop levels based on the progress we see on the ground and advice of our military leaders, not based on artificial timetables set by politicians in Washington."