President Bush gave an animated and wide-ranging speech during a visit here today, defending the war in Iraq, promoting entrepreneurship and self-reliance.

The president arrived here late this morning, swooping into Lancaster Airport aboard Air Force One.

Supporters and protesters waited for him at the airport in Manheim Township and near the Jay Group, the West Hempfield Township business where Bush spoke at a town hall-style meeting before an invitation-only crowd.

Pacing back and forth before a crowd of about 400, the president defended his administration's position on Iraq.

His remarks frequently were interrupted by applause.

"Like you, I'd like them home," he said of the troops.

Bush said he believes the country's efforts in Iraq will be fruitful and produce more liberty there.

Also during his visit, his fifth here, Bush discussed the economy.

"The job of government is to create the kind of environment where small businesses flourish ... that encourages entrepreneurship," he said.

And Bush discussed the SCHIP children's health insurance bill, which would have expanded coverage to low-income children. He vetoed the bill before leaving Washington, D.C.

The policies of the government ought to be to help people find private insurance, not rely on the federal government for help, he said.

As he began his remarks, Bush made a local connection by speaking glowingly of the compassion of the Amish in the aftermath of last year's killings in Bart Township. He also recognized seven troopers who responded to the shootings.

The president praised Amish resident Chris Blank, seated with his wife nearby, "for being a great example of the compassion of the Lord."

Accompanied by U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, Bush was greeted at the airport by a small delegation of local officials and by a local 10-year-old girl who got a volunteer award from the president today.

His motorcade headed toward the Jay Group, traveling east and picking up Routes 222 and 30. He arrived at the business about 35 minutes after his plane landed at about 10:40 a.m.

Along the way, the caravan of more than 20 vehicles passed clumps of protesters and supporters, mostly amassed at two sites near the airport and near the Jay Group.

"He is the best president in our lifetime," said Joanne Brinkley, who watched the motorcade pass the parking lot of Penn Cinemas near the Lancaster Airport. "He's never flip-flopped."

Standing at a corner of Stony Battery and Corporate roads, near the Jay Group, where protesters set up three flag-draped coffins, Nick Martin, 18, of Willow Street, said, "Bush isn't welcome in Lancaster. He's cutting billions of dollars in health care to fund an illegal war that very few people agree with."

Protesters in that crowd yelled at the motorcade, which had an SUV carrying a man toting a machine gun.

The protesters yelled, "Bush is a war criminal!", "Go home!" and "Bring the troops home!"

Not everyone today was a protester or a supporter. Some in the lively crowd of about 150 near the Jay Group were there simply to gawk at the president and at all the pageantry that accompanies a visit by the nation's leader.

"It's something that doesn't happen every day in Lancaster County," said Matt LaBarre, 25, of East Petersburg.

Inside the Jay Group was a more sedate crowd. Banners welcomed Bush, who began speaking to an invitation-only group there at presstime.

The president spoke in an intimate setting, only about 50 feet square, according to Tom Baldrige, the president of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry, which hosted the president today.

"It is set up like a theater in the round, with bleacher seating surrounding the president on all sides," he said.

"One thing that has been clear from the get-go, there has been absolutely no instructions from the White House about screening people or making certain it is only a friendly crowd," Baldrige said today before the event. "That part has impressed me."

Before the president arrived, Dana Chryst, chief executive officer of the Jay Group, said she was not as nervous as she thought she would be.

"Everyone says the same thing, that the president is very easygoing, easy to talk to and not at all intimidating," she said.

Often, when Bush visits a business site, he takes a tour of the facilities. Chryst said that won't be happening at the Jay Group.

Its new, $26 million headquarters, off of Marietta Pike in West Hempfield Township, originally was not scheduled to open until Oct. 13.

"We've accelerated the schedule, and whatever isn't finished, we've had to hide," she said. "But we are still under construction."

Instead, a group of presenters will show the president displays of the services the Jay Group offers and explain how the business works before he gives his speech. There also will be a display about the Chamber.

Chryst and her father, Jay Chryst, who founded the company in 1965, will serve as greeters.

"My dad is so thrilled. He is absolutely overwhelmed," Chryst said.

More than 50 people gathered in the parking lot of Penn Cinemas on Airport Road, to see the president's plane land and his motorcade pass.

Lonnie Brinkley, of Ronks, closed his business, Big Bear Candles in Intercourse, to come see the president today with his wife, Joanne, and two daughters, Stefanie, 15, and Tiffany, 21.

"It's a big deal to me," Stefanie Brinkley said, "He's our president."

Kim Barry, 41, of Lititz, brought her two homeschooled sons, Eli, 11, and Jacob, 8, to the airport this morning.

"It's an opportunity of a lifetime," Mrs. Barry said. "How often can you see the president landing in your backyard?"

"It's pretty cool," Eli Barry added.

"I've supported him through the good and the bad," Fred Hundertpfund Jr., 45, Landisville, said. "Everyone blames him and it's unfair. I'm ex-military and support him and our troops."

But near the Jay Group, protesters were vocal.

The Rev. Jerry Lee Miller, 59, of Lancaster, said he worries the president will lead the nation into a new war with Iran.

Pamela Carnes, 17, a Manheim Township High School senior, criticized Bush's veto today for a bill that would have expanded funding for health care for low-income children.

"What's more important," she asked, "killing people or all the children?"

Bush was scheduled to give the Volunteer Service Award to Kennedy Kulish, a 10-year-old Hambright Elementary School student who founded "Kisses for Kaeden." The service project has raised more than $48,000 for children in need.

It was named after the Manor Township girl's brother, Kaeden, who was born with a heart defect.

During the past four years, Kennedy, who greeted the president at the airport, and her friends have logged more than 2,100 hours of volunteer service.

On the eve of Bush's visit, about 400 protesters jammed into every crevice of Penn Square.

The protest was called by the Lancaster Coalition for Peace & Justice, but members of several other groups protested, as well as a fair number of individuals.

Protester Johanna Gosse said, "People in Lancaster County do not support the war. People are fed up. Just look at the group here."

Passing vehicles honked horns in support, flag-draped coffins lined the square's corners,  signs blanketed the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, drummers kept a beat, and a giant banner showing a big fist and reading "Take the power back" billowed in the wind.

(Staff writers Robyn Meadows, Janet Kelley, David O'Connor and Bernard Harris contributed to this report.)

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